Tsunami Aftermath
by Reparata
Summary: She hadn't meant to hurt him. Her comments were shouted out at him in the heat of anger, and she was very angry with him. He stood there like a barrier island while the tsunami of her anger stormed over him, engulfed him, broke him, swept him away. Like the aftermath of a tsunami, when her anger abated and the waters receded, he was gone and it was as if he'd never been.
1. Chapter 1

Blocked on others and this is how I ease the cognitive constipation.

This will be a cross-over and I may move it but will provide link on profile.

Reparata

* * *

Chapter 1

She hadn't meant to hurt him. Her comments were shouted out at him in the heat of anger, and she was very angry with him. He stood there like a barrier island while the tsunami of her anger stormed over him, engulfed him, broke him, swept him away.

And just like the aftermath of a tsunami, when her anger abated and the waters receded, he was gone and it was as if he'd never been.

* * *

Apartment 4B

Penny woke up with a massive hangover. She tried to sit up but a large tattooed and hairy arm lay across her stomach and her legs were encased in the twisted sheets. The soreness of muscles long unused told her that she'd had some serious sex the night before but she couldn't remember a damned thing after leaving work and getting ready to party with her friends.

"I need to get up! Gonna hurl!" Magic words. The arm disappeared and she just barely made it to the bathroom. She used mouthwash and then brushed her teeth and used mouthwash again before walking out, naked as the day she was born, to see just who belonged to the hairy arm.

She heard the apartment door close and she decided 'to hell with it' and curled back up in bed, pulling the covers over her aching head. _'Why do I keep doing the same stupid thing over and over? He's right. It is ruining my life. I have got to quit drinking. I really need help. I can't do it alone.'_

* * *

Apartment 4B

Penny shambled into the apartment of her best friends and headed for the coffee pot. Pouring a mug of the hot brew, she sat at the counter and tried to put together a speech that would 'engage his interest' in helping her.

Leonard walked in, half dressed and looking like crap. He obviously had had a night like she had. _'Oh God! I didn't end up with him, did I? No tattoos and he doesn't have a lot of body hair, thank God!'_

"Morning, Penny. Thanks for making coffee. Man, I will never again go to a faculty mixer without a wingman. No one there to say 'Leonard, you've had too much to drink. You need to stop this right now'."

"Sounds like something Sheldon would say. Where is he? By the way, I didn't make the coffee but God bless whoever did."

"It must have been Sheldon. He's pretty good about setting up the 'inebriation recovery system' as he calls it. There were two Tylenol and a glass of ice water on the nightstand when I woke up."

Penny glanced over and saw the look that Leonard was giving her. She called him out on it.

"What's with the look, Leonard?"

"You – you were pretty brutal to him last night. I heard what you said and although I wouldn't have quite put it that way, he was sticking his nose where it didn't belong but then that's Sheldon. He thinks we make bad decisions when we're drunk. He's mostly right but just so damned annoying about it."

"I didn't see Sheldon at all yesterday, Leonard. I came home from work, took a shower and then went clubbing with some friends."

"Um, well, I woke him up when I got in and I guess he couldn't get back to sleep and I heard…"

"You heard what, Leonard? What did you hear?"

"You basically told him that he was a sexless drone with no idea at all how to deal with real people and that you never wanted to see him again."

"Basically? What exactly did I say, Leonard?" She couldn't remember anything after getting to the club except maybe, and she wasn't really sure, dirty dancing with some big guy with tattoos all over his neck and arms…

"I'm sorry, sweetie. What was that? I was thinking hard about last night."

"You yelled at him that you would 'sleep with anyone you damned well pleased,' and that he could never 'get it up for a real woman' and that no 'real' woman would have him. Then you told him you never wanted to see him again as long as you lived. But you were drunk, Penny, and he always makes allowances and excuses for you when he'd banish any of us guys. I'm sure this time will be no exception."

"That was it? That was all I said?" She desperately wanted to remember but mostly to forget that she'd lost it with gentle, caring Sheldon, her best friend in the entire world.

"Mostly, yeah. That was the crux of it. He came back into the apartment and went to bed." He couldn't meet her eyes and Penny was astute enough to know that whatever happened, Sheldon had been 'affected' by it.

"I need to talk with him and apologize. I would never say those things sober, you know that, Leonard, never."

"Sheldon's been around drunks his entire life, Penny, and he knows that the drunken man's words are the sober man's thoughts. That's what he says, anyway."

"Leonard, I never even think about Sheldon in those terms, not ever! He's my best guy friend. Where is he? It's Saturday and he should be glued to Dr. Who."

"He was gone when I woke up. Probably went into work. I wouldn't worry too much about it, Penny. He's Sheldon Cooper, PhD, and never lets what people say get to him. Just give him some space and time."

* * *

CalTech  
Faculty Cafeteria

"So where's Dr. Dementia keeping himself these days? I haven't seen him in weeks." Winkle was feeling feisty and needed to either get laid or take out some of her frustrations on someone. The male faculty always provided a 'target rich' environment but not lately.

"He must be bringing his lunch from home. I hear him coming and going and working sometimes late at night but I haven't really laid eyes on him. Whatever he's working on must be pretty damned important to him. He's missed going to the Comic Book Store and Halo and – "

"I know where he goes for lunch. There's a janitor's room down in the basement and he goes there every day from 11:40 until 12:30. Then he goes to his office and locks the door. Raj and I got curious and so we followed him once to his 'lair' and he's been going there for the past two weeks at least, maybe longer."

"Really? What can he do in a janitor's closet?" Leonard's mind was blank.

"Maybe he's got a thing for the janitor? He's always been very friendly with some of the cleaning staff. He's always prattling on in Spanish with them."

"He does it to keep up his fluency. You should hear him when he does call-ins to the German radio stations. Some of those science programs really rub him wrong and he's a 'frequent caller' but not recently."

"I have an idea. Let's put a web cam in the room and watch. Maybe he's just wanting some 'private time' that he can't get at home."

"I don't know, guys. Sheldon gets pretty upset when someone violates his privacy. Howard, you're close to 'banishment' as it is."

"I do not want to have to take that damned web class of his again but I say, in the name of scientific curiosity, let's put the web cam in the room and solve this riddle."

* * *

Two days later  
Apartment 4A

Howard set up the computer and tapped into the feed from the web cam. There was sound in addition to video. He had set the camera to activate on motion or sound so they wouldn't have to watch hours of darkness between Sheldon's sessions in the storage closet.

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen, it's show time!" exclaimed Howard.

Penny had come over for Thai Night hoping to catch Sheldon but as usual, he was absent. Winkle was there and just smirked when Penny sashayed into the apartment without knocking and took a seat on the couch beside her. Sheldon's 'spot' was of course empty.

"This isn't porn, is it, Howard? I thought you were done with that stuff now that you're married?" Penny had seen some of Howard's 'show time' things and didn't need a repeat performance.

"We're not sure. It's Sheldon's secret lair although there's nothing in there but some antique electronic equipment and a desk and chair and an old blackboard. He's written the number 43 on it for some reason. I wonder what it means? Okay, this is the recording of the past two days. I used some Mars Rover stuff to arrange an a/v feed from the hard drive in the web cam."

"You guys taped Sheldon? That's a violation of his privacy. He's going to have a fit and banish us all for life if he knows we're doing this."

"Then we won't let him know, will we, Penny?" Howard leered at Penny.

"Oh, look! There he is," squealed Penny.

The door to the room opened and Sheldon stepped in and turned on the light. Next he took off his messenger bag and took something out of it and started speaking into it.

"This is Dr. Sheldon Cooper, PhD and this is transit attempt #44. I daresay that my hopes for a successful transit are high despite the previous 43 failures." His image turned and fiddled with what Howard had called 'antique equipment' and then punched something into what looked like a hand-held TV remote control.

A swirling blue vortex appeared out of thin air and Sheldon laughed in delight and clapped his hands together and grabbed his messenger bag and stepped into the blue vortex and disappeared. The screen turned black.

"What the fuuuuuck – " exclaimed Lesley. "He just – disappeared into that blue thing!"

"Let me scan the file for the next activity. That occurred two days ago according to the time stamp. Has anyone seen or heard from Sheldon since then?"

No one had.

* * *

Continuation dependent on interest and my mood.

RB


	2. Chapter 2

Here's the 2nd chapter which has suffered from massive revisions. I need to reach a point in writing where I can say 'ok, it's done' but haven't reached it yet. So much time invested for so little interst.

Oh, yeah, as some wag requested: I do not own TBBT and I do not profit from my writings nor do I entertain any such nonsense in the future.

Nya Nya.

Reparata

* * *

Chapter 2  
Intervention

"Look! The blue thingy is back and – " Howard had found the next file and accessed it and Penny stated the obvious.

The blue vortex appeared, as did Sheldon. It was obvious that he was running as he darted out of the vortex and slammed into the wall and crumpled into a heap. This time the image of the vortex was accompanied by a buzzing sound that made Penny's skin crawl.

"What's that in his hand? It looks like a gun – "

He rolled over with his back against the door and pointed something nasty looking at the vortex. A bolt of bluish white plasma shot from it and the noise was like nothing any of them had ever heard before. It seemed to tear through their bodies and it was _loud _and the speakers on the laptop couldn't handle it.

Sheldon curled up in a little ball and pointed the thing that Penny thought looked like a TV remote control at the vortex and frantically keyed in data with a thumb.

An arm reached through the vortex and Sheldon fired his 'gun' again into the vortex with one hand and with the other, pointed the controller and this time it closed severing the arm. It fell to the concrete floor and the fingers twitched once and then stopped moving.

Leonard asked, "What's the time stamp on this image?"

"Um, this evening. About two hours ago. Try his cell phone. Wait! Don't! That thing in his hand? It's some kind of firearm. Maybe we should just let him come to us – after he calms down."

Howard reran the video file several times, the last in slow motion. They all noticed the same thing. Sheldon was wearing a rag-bag collection of clothing, carried a military-looking backpack and somehow his face was covered with several days of whiskers and he was badly in need of a haircut. And he was filthy.

Howard looked at his watch and uttered an expletive. "I forgot to pick up Bernadette from work. She's gonna kill me."

"I dropped Bernie off at your house, Howard, because you forgot to pick her up and then I came back here."

Penny seemed deep in thought while the others argued about the implications of what they'd seen.

"I really came over to see if Sheldon was here. I didn't mean to get wrapped up in some home made sci-fi video that you're all trying to prank me with just so Sheldon can get back at me for hollering at him."

She stood up and announced to the group that she 'had better things to do than wait for him to show up' and yell '_**BAZINGA**_!'

She didn't return to her apartment but rather sat quietly on the stairs and waited for Sheldon.

* * *

CalTech  
Office of Dr. Sheldon Cooper, PhD

Sheldon sat at his desk, a tattered spiral notebook lay open before him and he was transcribing notes into his laptop. The pulse pistol lay beside the notebook, ready to fire. The severed arm was in his mission pack.

Sheldon saw the date on his computer and his mind went blank for a moment and then he began to type almost furiously.

April 3, 2113

_Transit #44 was a complete success. However, the world to which I'd transited was not another timeline or another alternate universe as I'd first hypothesized. I hesitate to record this for posterity but facts are facts and all data, even that which is personally embarrassing, must be recorded. _

_I was wrong._

_It was the future. Eight years, three months and eleven days in the future. Note: Given today's date and the dates on the observation entries recorded in a spiral college-ruled notebook, it would appear that I spent 192 'days' in the future, returning two 'days' after departing. I am somewhat perplexed that my reentry date was off by so much. Theoretically, I should have reentered this time stream at the precise second I exited it._

_This is interesting since Einstein's theory postulated no such lapse in time. Perhaps he was wrong but then if he was, then can anything he postulated be true? My stars! This could change the very way in which we look at the Universe!_

"Focus." He said the words aloud. "Focus on the task at hand, Sheldon Cooper." There would be no time to investigate Einstein's apparent error if he did not accomplish his assigned task.

_Upon arrival in the transit area, I immediately noted that the building from which I exited had been totally destroyed. I first posited an earthquake of some extraordinary magnitude but quickly revised my theory when several figures began moving in my general direction._

_They were shooting at anything that moved._

_The next few days were spent in hiding, moving only at night and suffering from thirst and hunger. There were no landmarks to guide me to some point of safety and I must admit to being totally lost – and afraid. _

_I was asleep when they found me. One moment I was asleep and the next, dragged to my feet and stripped of my messenger bag and transit control unit. I don't know what came over me but I fought back against my attackers but it was no use. Someone hit me from behind and I lost consciousness._

He was bone tired and figured that his transcription could wait. He was hungry and filthy and he wanted nothing more that to go home, take a shower and then eat and sleep without worrying about being rousted out because things were getting 'exciting' again.

Out of habit, he glanced at the Batman Chronometer on his wrist and cursed. He still looked for it even though he sacrificed its workings for the timer. Old habits die hard. His laptop displayed 2300 hours.

'_Good. Everyone will be in bed and I can slip in unnoticed and then resume my normal day-to-day activities without drawing attention to myself. I have things to do that are more important than anything I might accomplish at CalTech._

It was confusing to him. He figured out that he was suffering from jet lag of sorts. He needed decent food, a shower and then a couple days' sleep before he'd tackle anything major in life. He had vacation and sick time accrued. He would just take a few personal days to finish transcribing his notes in the quiet of his apartment and then he'd begin his search.

* * *

The cab pulled up to his apartment building and Sheldon told the cabbie to 'wait here and I'll return with your money'. He left his University ID badge as collateral and hurried up the stairs. The cab driver opened up all the windows of his cab to air it out. The guy might be a University professor but he could use a bath.

Sheldon was not out of breath when he got to the top of the stair and that surprised him. Normally he would be huffing and puffing after just walking up the stairs but he'd run.

Penny had retreated to her apartment when the guys and Winkle left to get some beers at a bar down the street but left the door open so she could see 4A from her vantage point on the couch.

'_Where the hell can he be? He's got no where else to go but here.'_

Sheldon realized that somewhere along the way he'd lost his keys. He was just grateful that he'd left his University ID on his desk when he went down to what he called his 'transit room' or he would really be in trouble.

He thought about waking Penny to get the spare key but thought better of it.

'_She's either out or entertaining someone or asleep and besides, she said she didn't ever want to see me again and I must respect her wishes.'_

Knock, knock, knock, "Leonard?" He repeated his habitual triple set of 3-knock until his knuckles hurt and still no one answered the door.

"Here, Sheldon. I heard you knocking and I brought over the spare key. I think the guys went out somewhere but I'm not certain. Listen, can we talk?"

He gave a startled cry and threw himself backwards flat against the wall beside his apartment door.

"Have you been drinking espresso again, Sheldon?" He seemed nervous but it was more than that but...

He snatched the key from her hand and thrust it into the lock and opened the door and stepped inside and then turned and stated simply, "No," and closed and locked the door.

Penny was aghast at how dirty 'prissy' Sheldon was and how badly he needed a bath. His 'No' shook her to the core and she felt the pressure of impending tears build up in her sinuses and eyes. He'd never been deliberately rude or hurtful to her before. It hurt.

The door was suddenly opened again and Sheldon ran past her and down the stairs. Penny stood there, not knowing what else to do so she waited for him to come back upstairs. They would have their talk and she would apologize and beg for his help.

* * *

Sheldon handed the driver a $100 bill and told him to keep the change and use it to fumigate his cab. He apologized and the driver just nodded and sped away, windows still down.

He was dead on his feet but there was much to do before he could crawl into his bed. He walked up the stairs and saw Penny waiting at his open door and sighed.

"What do you want, Penny? Whatever it is, make it quick. Wait! 'Make it quick' in your apartment. Follow me."

Penny followed Sheldon into her apartment and then was shocked speechless when he went to the kitchen cabinet where she kept her liquor and took down a bottle of rum.

"Got any Coke?" Since apparently she wasn't speaking to him, Sheldon opened up her refrigerator and pulled out a half-full 2 liter Coke bottle and sat down at her kitchen table and poured the rum into the Coke bottle, shook it up slightly to mix it, and then took a healthy pull from the plastic bottle.

"Sorry. Where are my manners? Want a drink, Penny? Bring your own glass. You backwash something terrible." His voice was tight and controlled as if he were in danger of losing his temper and his East Texas twang sheathed some of the words. She could see how tightly he held the bottle and how nervous and jumpy he seemed.

"Sh-Sheldon? What the hell happened to you? Where have you been for the past two days?" Sheldon being dirty was enough to blow her mind but a dirty, no, make that filthy, Sheldon Cooper drinking rum and Coke left her confused. Had she flipped her lid? Was this what happened when she blacked out? Was she hallucinating?

"Working on a project, Penny. Nothing unusual and I've kept out of your sight as you requested so I don't see why you're so upset and concerned. I assure you that I will replace the bottle of rum, probably with a top-shelf brand, not this nasty crap you got on sale. Still, it's better than what I've had lately."

"Sheldon Cooper, you stink. Let's go to your place and we can talk," his eyebrows raised, "through the bathroom door while you bathe. I need to talk to you, Sheldon, please? I know I behaved horribly to you and I want to apologize and ask for your help."

"No need. You were right. What you do is none of my business and I should not have interfered. I suppose I do stink, but I've become used to it and more. I'm going to take several showers and then eat something and retire. I'm sorry but I don't have time to help you, Penny. Thanks for the hooch." He started to leave the apartment.

"I saw you go into and come out of the blue thingy. The guys and I saw it on video." She needed his help and she needed his attention to plead her case.

He whirled on her and took a step towards her. "You were spying on me?" His anger was something to behold. She'd seen him 'mad' but never like this.

"No! I mean, I just came to find you and talk and the guys and Winkle were watching something on the computer and I thought it was just a sci-fi prank you were pulling on me but they were convinced it was real and then you never came home and – and…"

He handed her the half-empty bottle. "Here. You obviously need this as much as I do."

"No! I quit. Er, I'm trying to quit. I haven't been to any clubs or slept with anyone since I went off on you. I'm sorry, Sheldon. You're my bestest friend and I was so mean to you and all you wanted to do was save me from personal ruin and I – I – "

She dissolved into blubbering squalls of tears and he was momentarily unsure of what to do but then he reached over and patted her on the back saying, "There, there, Penny."

He didn't get close. He stunk. Once she seemed to calm down, he walked back to his apartment, still carrying the half-empty Coke bottle. He needed a bath since he could now smell himself.

Penny stared at his retreating back and then stomped after him. They _would_ talk.

Sheldon slammed the door in her face and then locked it and just stood quietly, letting everything go. He was home. He was safe. So why was he crying?

His hands were shaking almost uncontrollably and he couldn't stop crying.

* * *

'_Wha - ? Sheldon Cooper, I will have my say!' _ Penny stormed after Sheldon but it took her several tries before she was able to get the spare key into the lock. Angry tears made it hard to see the slot for the key.

* * *

Your thoughts and comments are fuel for my fire.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you all for the reviews, PMs and your ideas about where this is going and I hope I don't disappoint you but I'm sure some will bail and that's okay.**

**Special thanks to my Canadian neighbor for sharing his intimate and controversial thoughts about the direction things might go. You'll see some but not all of your ideas in some shape.**

**Reparata Briggendiola  
Posted 12/2/2012**

* * *

Chapter 3

**Previously: Sheldon's back but tired, filthy and cranky and uncaring, or so it seems. Penny is trying to apologize and he just keeps blowing her off and she thinks it's because he's been so badly hurt, which isn't far from the truth.**

* * *

Apartment 4A

Sheldon heard the key fumbling in the lock behind him but he didn't care. He was overcome with the feelings that enveloped him. He never thought he'd live to see his couch, his TV, any of this ever again. He was shivering but wasn't cold and his nose was running. He just wiped it on his sleeve.

"Sheldon, please don't walk away from me. I really want to talk with you and apologize and then – "

"Penny…I'm so damned tired and I smell like crap and I'm filthy and I probably have lice and I just want to eat something, drink the rest of this," he held up the almost empty Coke bottle, "and then get as clean as I possibly can in the least amount of time. Then I'm going to go to bed and sleep until I wake up. I don't care about your problem and as for an apology, just make it and be gone."

"Lice? Where the hell have you been? Lice! Oh my God, Sheldon. Look, you get in the shower and I'll bring you some medicated shampoo that I had to use once. A wig I wore for an audition had lice and I caught some. It works really great. While you delouse yourself, I'll cook you some breakfast and we'll talk while you eat."

Sheldon still hadn't looked her in the eye and all he wanted to do was get clean. "Okay, bring me your shampoo and I'll get clean. You can cook whatever you like and I'll listen to whatever you have to say but then I have to get to sleep. I don't remember the last time I slept and I get cranky when I don't get my full allocation of REM – "

He stopped and took a pull from the Coke bottle and laughed bitterly. "I haven't slept 6 uninterrupted hours in the past 6 months, Penny."

He walked into the bathroom, taking his pack, and his messenger bag with him.

Penny heard the water start in the shower and she hurried to scramble some eggs and make toast. Coffee, she needed to make coffee. Sheldon Cooper never drank and yet he'd just killed the better part of a third of a bottle of rum without any inclination to moon her or sing songs or tell physics jokes.

'_Maybe I should let him talk instead of me whining about my damned problem. I think he's got bigger problems than I do.'_

* * *

Sheldon stood under the shower and let the hottest water he could stand beat down on him. He'd lathered his entire body several times and he still didn't feel clean but he was getting there. He read the directions on the shampoo and washed his hair twice and then let the water just warm and relax him.

Home. He was finally home. "Penny? Can you give me a hand in here?" He was sitting on the closed commode seat, wrapped in a towel and clipping his nails. Several were broken and Leonard had failed to return the emery board to its proper place.

Penny went to the closed bathroom door and knocked. "What's up, Sheldon?"

"Come in, Penny. I could use your help."

Penny opened the door and saw Sheldon sitting there. At least she thought it was Sheldon. This guy had muscles in his arms and shoulders and there was a puckered scar high on his left pectoral that looked nasty but was healed. She didn't remember him being so muscular the time she rubbed Vicks on his chest. She didn't remember the scar either.

He handed her his scissors and comb and asked her, quietly, almost shyly, "Could you please trim my hair? I hate looking like a hippie."

"Food's ready. How about after you eat – but please put on something a little more substantial?" She couldn't believe how hard it was not to run her fingers through his hair and down over his muscular shoulders and across his pecs and down across his flat stomach where just the hint of a possible six-pack lurked in its infancy. "Yeah, sweetie, something substantial."

* * *

He ate six scrambled eggs and four pieces of toast and drank two cups of coffee before he leaned back and let out an uncharacteristic burp. "Oh, excuse me. Not used to being full." He was sitting in his spot, relaxed and louse free and safe for the first time in months.

"Okay, Sheldon, that's it. I want to know how, in the space of two days, your hair gets 3 inches longer, you put on muscle mass that makes you look really good by the way, you got a scar on your peck that wasn't there last winter and you appear out of nowhere after disappearing into some blue doohickey."

"Sheldon?" He was asleep. Penny sighed and then pulled a throw from the back of the couch and draped it over him. Sheldon's idea of 'substantial' was cotton drawstring sleep pants and a Flash t-shirt but it was better than sitting in a towel.

'_I'll cut his hair tomorrow and then we'll have our talk.'_

Just as she was getting ready to leave, Leonard and Winkle came back. Winkle just smirked at Penny and walked into Leonard's bedroom leaving him to hem and haw through any explanation to his ex-girlfriend.

Penny held up her hand at his first stammer, stopping him in his tracks. "I don't care, Leonard. We're through and you can plow whatever fields you like. Right now I'm more concerned about Sheldon. For starters, how did his hair get so long so fast? And if that video wasn't part of an elaborate prank, what the hell was that blue thingy? And where did Sheldon go when he stepped into it."

"Penny, I'm a little drunk and I think this is a morning conversation." He had no answerers that made any sense and his pride wouldn't allow him to admit it so yeah, 'tomorrow' was a great idea.

"I want answers, Leonard, first thing in the morning. I'm staying here with Sheldon to make sure, um, to make certain his sleep is undisturbed so put a sock in her mouth if she gets loud."

"Heh-heh, yeah, I do bring out the volume in women…heh-heh." Penny blushed and wondered what she ever saw in him. Sure, he was a nice boyfriend and all and the sex was good but sometimes she faked it and those were the times she was loudest, hoping her fake passion would make him cum faster.

"Whatever, Leonard. Go. I think your ride is getting impatient and will probably start without you."

* * *

Sheldon woke up and awareness flooded his mind. He was greeted by the smell of 'home' and the delicious odor of frying bacon and coffee.

"Hey, look who's finally awake! Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes. I guessed on what you'd like since I lost track of your bran schedule. Eggs, toast and bacon alright?"

"Fine. Excuse me for a moment. I need to dress more appropriately." He had a sudden thought. "Penny, where did you spend the night?"

"Um, right next to you, Sheldon. You were having some bad dreams so I just – "

"It's okay. I just smelled you all over my Flash t-shirt, that's all. I should thank you for comforting me in my sleep. I – my dreams, some are horrific and I wake up but – "

"It was my pleasure, Moon Pie. Bacon's done. Go change or whatever."

Leonard and Leslie appeared just as Sheldon sat down to eat. Leonard promptly got two plates out and obviously planned on 'breakfast' but Penny stopped him cold.

"If you want eggs, cook 'em yourself. Those are Sheldon's and so's the bacon." She carried the frying pan over to his plate and dumped the eggs and bacon onto it snagged a piece of bacon but instead of going into orbit about her 'touching my food', Sheldon just got another plate and scraped off about half the eggs and bacon onto it.

"Here, Penelope. You cooked enough for the both of us." He'd always been hungry in the mornings Up-time and so had…

'_This is harder than I thought it would be. I was hoping she would keep her distance after our altercation but she's apparently remorseful and the last thing I need is a constant reminder of what is going to happen to me – to all of us. The consequences of time travel continue to appear without warning.'_

"Penny, could you possibly do me a favor later today if your schedule permits?"

"Sure, sweetie. I'm off today and tomorrow. Want to hit up the comic book store or – "

"I need you to drive me to Burbank. I have some people I need to see about – about some personal business. I won't be long and you can either go shopping and return for me or I can get a ride back if you don't want to wait."

"I'll wait and then we will both go shopping, sweetie. I think most of your clothes, at least the shirts, will be too tight on you to be comfortable." She looked at how tight the Flash t-shirt was and how it made him look so damned good.

'_On second thought, why ruin my chances to appreciate those muscles and that lean and hungry look his longer hair gives him?'_

"We could go whenever you're ready, sweetie. The sooner we hit the mall the sooner it'll all be over for you."

Leonard and Leslie just sat there, both wondering when Sheldon was going to either yell out "Bazinga" or tell them the truth.

He did neither. Once finished, he took his and Penny's plates to the sink, rinsed them and placed them in the dishwasher and went to his room to dress.

Penny ran over to her apartment, washed her face and put on makeup and then slipped into her sexiest jeans and top and waited for Sheldon's knocks to tell her he was ready for their mini road trip.

'_I'll get him to talk in the car. I have almost an hour to get him to open up and tell me about the blue thingy and why he's so strung out but so different after just two days.'_

_A/N: Your thoughts are my fuel._


	4. Chapter 4

Precious little interest in this. Is it that damned bad? Or is it the premise turns you all off after chapter 2?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Reparata  
Posted 12/4/2012

* * *

Chapter 4

Burbank

Penny pulled up in front of a low-rent bungalow and looked over at her passenger. His grip on his messenger bag had tightened and he never took a hand off the strap of the strange backpack that was nestled between his long legs except to consult a tattered spiral notebook he kept in his messenger bag. He'd confirmed the address they were at.

"Penny, really, you don't have to wait. Go shop 'til you drop' but leave a note in your purse telling people where you live and – "

She popped him in the arm and then rubbed it to make it all better. Actually, she found it hard to keep her hands off him. Something was different about him. He was normally fidgety in the car, talking non-stop, but not this time.

"I said I'll wait for you, Shelley-bean, and I will."

"I suppose _telling_ you to go home wouldn't work either, would it?"

"Nope." She popped the 'P' sound, knowing that it was one of his pet peeves but he just sighed and got out.

"No matter what happens, Penny, stay put. If things get exciting, drive away and don't look back. I'll be along directly. Don't worry."

"Wait! What do you mean, 'exciting'?"

He simply turned and walked up the driveway past the Jeep Cherokee that was parked in it. Sheldon felt the hood and smiled. It was hot so they were here. He walked up the two steps to the porch but stopped. He felt her presence behind him. He turned, anger making the thin planes of his face almost white and she stepped back, afraid of him for the first time since they met.

"I _told_ you to stay put, Penelope. Were the words too big?"

He looked like he was torn between carrying her back to the car and spanking her. She felt a frisson of desire flush through her system. She'd always liked bad boys and this Sheldon was definitely _bad_.

"Doc!" A slim 20-something brunette with long dark hair tore open the bungalow door and launched herself across the porch at Sheldon, throwing her arms around his neck and covering his cheeks with sloppy kisses.

Penny got instantly jealous and she growled deep in her throat but that didn't deter the young woman from laughing and hugging on Sheldon.

"Cam – please, control yourself. It hasn't been that long since I last saw you."

"Fuck all yes it has, Doc! It's been almost a frikkin' _lifetime_ and Derek told everyone you'd been greased by that Triple-8 that was chasing you. Should have known you'd show up like a rotten penny. We really bollixed up the transit but then we didn't have our resident armorer and time traveling genius to set the parameters for us!"

"Cameron, if you don't watch that sewer of a mouth of yours – and it's _bad_ penny, not _rotten._"

"What? You'll spank me?" She smiled saucily but then her face lost all emotion when she looked over Sheldon's shoulder and saw Penny. She hissed, "What the fuck is _she _doing here?"

"Cameron Baum, get back in the house. Hello, I'm Sarah Baum and you are?" Sheldon noted how the older woman held her right hand behind her back, no doubt wrapped around the butt of a pistol tucked into the waistband of her enticingly-tight jeans.

"Sarah, he's the Doc that Derek and I told you about. He's John's right-hand man in the scrounging department. He's the one who gave Derek my emotion chip to bring down with him." She prattled on until a look from Sarah quieted her down and she went into the house, sending a glare over her shoulder at Penny.

"So you're the one who turned her on? I ought to shoot you where you stand!" There was just the hint of a smile and Sheldon suppressed his own smile. Cameron was normally taciturn not the loquacious Valley Girl who greeted him so emotionally.

"In my defense, I was only following your son's orders, Sarah. Personally, I think I need to readjust her filters and reduce the – "

"Why don't you and Blondie come in where we can talk without being gawked at. I assume she knows about – "

"No, not yet. We haven't, I mean, she hasn't, um, it's complicated. Is Derek here?"

Sheldon and Penny followed Sarah into the living room of the bungalow.

"No. He and John are out scouting a possible – " Sarah Conner looked at Penny and then at Sheldon who barely shook his head in the negative. " - A possible apartment vacancy. He's been living here since, well, and it's awkward, Dr…"

"Cooper, Sheldon Lee Cooper and this is Penny, my, um, neighbor across the hall."

Sarah Conner smirked a smirk that screamed '_sure she is_' but didn't say anything.

"Hi, Penny, I'm Sarah Conner and this is my menagerie of relatives and near-relatives. C'mon, I know it's early but I could definitely use a beer while Dr. Cooper has a little 'chat' with my um, step-daughter, Cameron."

Sheldon rolled his eyes but then blanched when he realized what the 'chat' would entail. He glared his fiercest glare at Sarah who just laughed it off.

"You torqued her up, you fix 'er. I don't think this is quite what John had in mind when he had you alter her emotional chip. One must keep Universe in balance, Dr. Cooper."

Her smirk conveyed volumes to Sheldon. He liked her even though he'd just met the mother of the Savior of Humanity. She was just like her son only in a much more attractive package. A _very_ attractive package.

As Penny followed Sarah into the kitchen she bumped into Sheldon deliberately and glared up at him. "Moon Pie, we _will_ have a chat about what's going on in your life, who these people are and just why that little brunette hussy thinks she can kiss you and rub herself all over you and why you're making cow eyes at her stepmother. Bet on it!"

"Penny, Sheldon Cooper does not make cow eyes, whatever they are." He looked so affronted that she wanted to hug him but just kept on moving.

* * *

John Connor watched as his companion slithered through weeds and scrub grass and hooked electrical leads to the bottom of the chain link fence. The only thing that tipped them off to the electrified fence was the couple of dead birds and mice that were on the ground along the fencing.

'No one electrifies a fence around an abandoned trucking terminal. Score one for Derek's intel.'

A few wires and rubber-coated snips and Derek had an opening large enough for them to slip through without being electrocuted. They ran the 20 or so yards to the rear of the terminal building and then began their assessment.

"Coming in daylight is totally unexpected so if there is any metal in there, they should be in stand-down or whatever. Move along the building to the west and I'll take the east. What are we looking for?"

Reese was in full teaching mode and John hated it but knew that he needed just this type of experience to become what his mother told him he would one day become.

"High-tech burglar alarm system, active CCTV cameras, signs of recent activity in the loading bays and anything else that screams Sky Net. This place has supposedly been abandoned for more than a year but there's no trash around the bays and no signs of decay that you'd expect to see after all this time."

"Don't get cocky, kid. Just about the time you think you know it all a Triple-8 will show you that you don't and you won't survive that lesson, John."

"Yes, _Mom_," he replied with an exasperated sigh. "Ow! Man, that hurt!" He rubbed the back of his head where Reese had cuffed him.

"Don't be disrespectful to Sarah. She's devoted her entire life to keeping you safe, training you, getting you ready for JD. You're not The Man yet, John, not by a long shot."

"So you never get tired of telling me…" he said in a soft voice.

"If Tin Lizzie were here you wouldn't have mouthed off, would you? You pay more attention to what that metal abomination says than what either your mom or I do. We all have something to teach you, damn it, so _listen_."

"Yeah, but sometimes you all forget that I'm giving up everything, too, for something that might not ever happen."

Any further arguments were postponed when they heard a large truck shifting gears and driving around the western side of the building and heading for the loading docks. They couldn't run across the tarmac and back to the fence. They'd be spotted. John ran along the side of the building and around the corner and dropped down and waited for Derek to join him.

"Okay, I don't think we were spotted. Let's do a total walk-around and note anything unusual. Get the info on the truck and we'll toss their office for manifests later tonight or tomorrow."

"Shouldn't we find a way in and see just what they're unloading? It might be legit, y'know?"

* * *

"Cameron, please go offline. This will be hard to do with you awake and feeling pain. I – "

"Doc, Doc, Doc, I told ya a thousand times that I do not 'feel pain' like you do. Just slice where I showed ya and pop out the chip. I think I'm getting on Sarah's nerves, y'know? John seems to like the upgrade but it's hard for me to override the chip when things get dicey."

"I have a modified chip in my bag but…the General was very specific about how he wanted you to behave, Cameron, _very_ specific."

She grabbed both his wrists and her voice got that flat tone that he was more familiar with.

"Doc, just do it but talk to me, okay? Tell me what you've been doing. How're things going Up there? And I can't believe you had the nerve to bring her here. Where's your head, Doc?"

"She's my neighbor and friend now, Cameron. I don't drive and she was good enough to bring me here. I told her to go 'shopping' or stay in the car but she listens as well as you do. Hold still."

"She never does. It's her nature, Doc. Omaha is a very strong-willed woman. I'll bet your 'resurrection' shook her up some, didn't it?"

Sheldon used a gauze pad to mop up the 'blood' and then he began removing the chip from her head. He knew exactly what he had to do and it would only take a few seconds.

"Hey, I said – "

"I heard you. I do not wish to discuss it. This is the Before and we can't change our fates, Cameron. Tell me about Sarah. Is she what you expected? How's Derek adjusting to being here?"

"Derek's Derek. What more can I say? He's very rough around the edges, treats John like his own kid, has a thing for Sarah that he keeps hidden and spends his free time watching TV and watching Sarah."

Sheldon removed the chip, inserted it into a device from his backpack and keyed in some digits, grunted to himself, and then replaced the chip.

"That's it, Cameron. I didn't need to use the spare after all so keep it with you in case of damage. I've enhanced the filters so your potty mouth should be less spontaneous. Let me staple the incision and we're done."

* * *

"So, you and the Doc?" She waggled her fingers suggestively.

"Oh, no! We're friends, that's all. He's my best friend and we're not…" She waggled her fingers just as Sarah had and then laughed.

"Actually, right now he's totally pissed at me for something stupid that I said and then when I wouldn't wait in the car, he really got angry."

"Yeah. Derek told me about him. Smart guy appears out of nowhere at the precise moment he's needed? Sounds like fate to me." She realized that Penny had no idea who the 'Doc' really was and she hoped the blonde was a 'real' blonde and wouldn't catch the inference.

"Actually, he has been there for me whenever I needed him. He's always willing to help me out without expecting the 'usual' sexual payback. He's sweet but such a whacko sometimes."

Sarah had seen the faraway look in his eyes and the tremors that periodically shook his hands. Yep, he was the real McCoy, all right. He knew what they were up against and unlike others that had been 'sent Down', he could actually do something about it, 'any time' he pleased.

"Look, it's none of my business but you and he…I get this vibe about you and I'm almost never wrong. Stay with him, help him, watch over him and he'll do the same for you. Walk away from him and you'll regret it the rest of your life."

* * *

From the journal of Dr. Sheldon Cooper, PhD recounting the events of his transit experiment #44.

_My head was pounding but I was more concerned with the poking and prodding I was getting. I decided to play doggo and wait for the opportunity to escape. I just hoped they weren't traffickers in human organs. I needed what I had more than they did._

"_He's human. According to his ID, he's Dr. Sheldon Cooper of 2411 Los Robles here in Pasadena. From the junk in his bag, I figure he's…he's from Before. He's clean! I mean he has no ground-in dirt, no lice or signs of any disease or tooth decay. He's disgustingly healthy and human. Probably weak and starving and thirsty. I didn't hit him that hard."_

"_And his clothes match the period. The question is, how could he be here? From the reports from teams we've sent back, there were never any serious investigations into time travel until Sky Net developed it. No one's ever come Up-Time before. This is incredible."_

_I found my voice. "Unless you intend to vivisect me and sell my organs on the Black Market, may I have some water?" I was secured to a table of some kind and couldn't move more than a finger._

"_Release him and get him food and water and then bring him to the Ops Center. I want to interview him. And get him some clothes that don't advertise that he's not from around here. Don't want the troops asking questions."_

This section is from a different point of view and is not part of Dr. Cooper's journals but rather was added by someone after the events recounted here unfolded – author unknown.

_She was dead tired and the patrol they'd just completed had been a complete bust. What little they could scrounge up had been lost when a surveillance drone had buzzed them and they'd had to run for their lives._

"_Hey, the cook's got a new recipe for rat he tried out. It's not bad. Meet you there?"_

_She nodded and then followed her best friend out of her area of the old church basement to what was known as the 'mess hall'. Rat wasn't new on the menu but if the cooks had found a new way to prepare it so it wasn't rat, she was up for it._

_She stepped aside as two troopers, one was Derek Reese, her platoon leader, helped a tall man towards the mess hall. He looked – clean - but was wearing the same type clothing they all wore. Her assessment started at his midsection and then moved upwards, cataloguing what she saw for future reference._

_His escort stopped and the man glanced around and saw her. Their eyes met and she felt a jolt of panic and then she screamed, "Metal!" and lunged at him, plunging her combat dagger into the terminator's chest. It wouldn't do any good but it would give others the chance to escape and arm themselves._

_Except it was Sheldon Cooper's chest._

One trooper screamed, "Medic!" and tried to stop the flow of blood while LT Reese wrestled with the woman known as Omaha and finally got the combat knife away from her.

"_He's DEAD! He died of radiation poisoning! That's some new kind of Metal. He's dead. My husband's dead!" Her screams were mostly ignored once people realized that the frantic cry of 'Metal' was a false alarm._

_Every once in a while someone flipped out and they were generally ignored unless they went totally postal and then they were quietly and humanely 'put down' like the mad dogs they'd become. _

_I await your screams of intolerant rage with bated breath._

_Reparata Briggendiola_


	5. Chapter 5

**I must adddmit to being pleasantly surprised that no one threatened to nuke my inbox.**

**Reparata  
Posted 12/5/2012**

* * *

Chapter 5

Cameron walked into the kitchen holding a piece of gauze over the still-oozing wound but did so only because of the presence of the woman she'd known as 'Omaha', not as 'Penny'.

"So, you and the Doc are just good friends, huh? What's wrong with you? Oh, sorry. Your sexual orientation is your business."

Sarah hid a smirk behind her hand. The doctor had definitely dialed down the cyborg's emotional range and for that he deserved a beer and a hearty 'thank you'.

"I'm not gay, kid. Sheldon and I are just best friends, nothing more. I'm just getting out of a relationship and he's my rock, but definitely not boyfriend material."

"Is the criteria for a husband different from that of a boyfriend? I would have thought that considering – "

"Cameron, why don't you go and see what's taking Dr. Cooper so long?" Sometimes the Tin Miss was unnecessarily blunt while other times, like this, she had no sense at all about how to deal with the subtleties of human social intercourse.

* * *

Sheldon was sitting in the corner of the bathroom, with his knees drawn up and his arms wrapped around them. His eyes were squeezed shut and he was violently shivering. His breath was coming in deep gasps and he was trying not to cry. Little things set him off. This time it had been the cyborg's 'blood' under his nails that had triggered the episode.

Cameron knocked on the door and opened it without waiting for a response. She cared little for the concept of privacy and couldn't understand the need people had.

"Doc, are you okay? You appear to be in the midst of a full-blown panic attack. Wait here and try to calm down. I shall retrieve a paper bag from the kitchen and you can breathe in it until the carbon dioxide levels in your blood are in balance."

"No – no, I'll be fine. Just needed - to sit down for a bit, that's - all. No reason to involve - the others."

Cameron sat down beside him and put her arm around him and pulled his head into her lap and began running her fingers through his hair, soothing and calming him. Her Future John had sometimes had episodes such as the one Doc was experiencing and it had helped him recover quickly.

"How long have you been back?" It was a simple question but had many levels on subtext.

"I arrived in the transit room at about 8pm two days after I left. It's curious because Einstein postulated that – "

"Hush, Doc. How long have you been back?"

"Less that 24 hours. I bathed, ate and slept before coming here. It seemed advisable."

His breathing had slowed and he was no longer panting between words. It was awkward being touched by a machine but he found her touch soothing.

_'Perhaps Penny was right. Perhaps I can't get it up for a real woman.'_

Cameron brought him up to date on their experiences after transiting.

"We totally screwed up the data on input but we only had your notes and so we ended up 8 years off-target, Doc. John was only 15 and so it was advisable that we assume a brother-sister role to accommodate our living together instead of being lovers. Sarah's my stepmother for our records and we've been on the run for so long that it's beginning to take its toll."

"I should have come with you, Cameron. I should have ensured that things were done properly. The General needed me elsewhere but I still should have explained more clearly – "

"I lost the notes. It's my fault. I only glanced at them and I hadn't recorded the entire note, simply the first two columns of data. I guessed at the others."

"You used intuition? That's amazing. You are constantly evolving and I find that fascinating. Do you know that it took mankind over 40,000 years to do what you've accomplished in such a short period of time? Don't you find that fascinating and worthy of study?"

"What I find fascinating, Doc, is that in so many respects you're still the innocent man who appeared and stirred up such a shit storm and still wants to know everything about everything."

"I'm sorry, Cameron. I can't suppress my innate curiosity and – "

"Speaking of suppressing things, have you and Omaha talked at all about what's going to happen and have you two made plans to avoid – "

"No. There's been no time and if anything, I'm more convinced than ever that she should choose someone more capable than I of protecting her in the future. Derek is perfect for her. He's her 'type' and I want her protected in the future. I failed to do so, as you well know."

* * *

Penny was standing just outside the open bathroom door blatantly eavesdropping. Sarah had sent her to check on Sheldon. Cameron was taking far too long and Penny had this image in her mind of the brunette crawling all over Sheldon and it bothered her.

_'What're they jawing about? Who's this 'Omaha' and why is Sheldon worried about her? And who is Derek and why does Sheldon want this 'Omaha' protected in the future?'_

Cameron sensed Penny's heat signature just outside the door and decided to put things on track for these two lost souls.

"She married you, Doc, and then you died. She survived and I don't think it was because of her looks, either. You prepared her as best you could and it was enough. Don't turn into a Triple-8 on me. I know how you think, remember? All those long talks…"

"Inquisitions and I was in pain and all you did was ask question after question."

"Talk to her, Doc. She deserves to know. Let her decide on…whom she will love. You can't force her. I learned that the hard way. Human beings are so damned complicated and confusing sometimes but I understand this situation better than you might think."

"Ahem!" Penny cleared her throat dramatically and then stepped into the small bathroom. She saw Sheldon lying on his side with his head in her lap and her fingers combing through his hair and Penny lost it. Totally.

"What the hell is going on here, Sheldon Cooper? Who the hell is this – this girl - and what is she to you? _All those long talks…_about what, exactly?"

Cameron just continued what she was doing but her tone changed dramatically. It carried a plea for understanding but she might as well have been talking to a stone.

"He's got PTSD. Things set him off. I helped him calm and center himself, that's all. I'm with John, Om-Penny. Sheldon is just a dear friend who has helped us all through some dangerous times."

Sheldon sat up and smiled at Cameron and then thanked her and she stood and pulled him to his feet.

She eased by Penny and sent her what she hoped was a feminine wink and then went into the kitchen. John and Derek were overdue and she was going to change into her patrol clothing and begin checking out the neighborhood. Perhaps Sarah would agree to taking the Jeep and going out in case they needed backup.

* * *

Cameron couldn't feel 'nervous' but sometimes, where John was involved, she felt unsettled, as if one of her system modules was preparing to fail. She felt _very_ unsettled.

"No, Cameron. We're not going to undermine his confidence. He's got Derek and that should be more than enough for a simple sneak 'n peak exercise. You have to let him out on his own sometime. You think you're worried? I'm his mother."

"I will dress for a patrol and take a watch position. The Doc has PTSD and it's bad. I don't think he's ever found himself in such a situation before, certainly not like the one he found Up Time. I like this version of Omaha. She'll be good for him if he lets her close."

"She says they're just good friends and she's happy with things the way they are. I don't know what has to happen to get things moving and we can't ask Sheldon since he hasn't lived through it yet."

"Oh, I think they're moving in the right direction. She was jealous and demanded to know why I was holding his head in my lap and running my fingers through his hair. John likes it. Future John, I mean, so I figured Doc would, too. We talked a lot when he was Up Time. He wants to know everything about everything. He asks the most interesting questions…"

* * *

"I don't like her, Sheldon. There's something strange about that girl that I just can't put my finger on. What did you two chat about? That's what Sarah said you were doing – 'chatting'."

"Actually, Penny, I made a 2cm incision in the right ventral portion of her cranium just within the hairline area and removed a computer chip that modifies Cameron's emotional responses. The first one was too emotive so I just recalibrated her response amplitude and it seemed to work. Then I sent her to get cleaned up and I – I had a spell and she helped me."

He told her the exact truth and, of course, she thought he was doing another prank. The first one had been on April 2 and it would be just like Sheldon to mess with her head.

"Sure ya did, Moon Pie. Sliced her open and popped out a chip just like upgrading the RAM in my laptop, right? What is she, a computerized 'friend'?"

"I do get along better with computers than people, Penny. You said I could never relate to a real woman and so I – "

"I apologized for that, Sheldon! Jesus, cut me a break, will ya? I was drunk and mad and frustrated and…and embarrassed because you saw me with Tattoo Guy."

"I was only stating what I've come to believe is the truth, Penny. I do relate better to computers than people. Computers are predictable. You know what to expect whereas human females are a mystery wrapped up in an enigma, bagged in secrets. And they lie."

"Well, this Cameron is a woman. She's a little young for you, by the way. Is she why you dragged me out here? For what? A booty call?"

Sheldon snorted and tried hard not to confront Penny with the truth of their current situation. She had hurt him with her comments that night worse than even he had suspected and to hear her accuse him of having sexual relations with Cameron really hurt him.

"She's with John Connor, Penny, and has been for quite some time. I don't think Cameron would appreciate the inference. In a strange way, she's as prideful as you are and I find her fascinating."

"_Fascinating_. You find her _fascinating_? Well, _fascinate_ your own way home, Sheldon Cooper, and don't bother asking for any favors in the future. We're square as far as I'm concerned."

* * *

Penny stormed out of the bathroom and then down the hall. She stopped by the kitchen and glared at Cameron and said, "He's all yours. He finds you _fascinating_. I hope you can give him a ride home because I'm out of here and he's on his own."

"Stop right there, Penny! Cameron, raise your shirt. _This _is what he finds so fascinating. This and the way her mind works."

Sarah took a paring knife from the kitchen drawer and stabbed Cameron in the abdomen and then withdrew the knife. There was almost no blood and the girl seemed blasé about being stabbed.

She tossed the knife to Cameron and said, "Open your arm for her. It's time to put things back on track."

Penny was terrified. She started backing up but Cameron's arm darted out and grabbed her forearm. "Watch and learn, Omaha." She cut the soft underside of her forearm and spread the 'tissue' and Penny saw the glint of metal instead of bone and then the room got dark and she fainted. Her last thought was that Cameron had smiled and called her 'Omaha'.

* * *

**This point in the story is critical as you'll see in the next couple of chapters. Things beging to fall apart and relationships are forged that are not conducive to welding them all togethr as a team. Sheldon goes through the 'blue thingy' again to help the Resistance and escape his feelings for Penny but runs into Omaha again and sparks fly.**

**Reparata**


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: This is the last of anything from me for a while. Going back into the hospital for just a bit. Stay frosty.

Reparata

* * *

Chapter 6  
Posted 12/6/2012

* * *

Cameron carried Penny into her bedroom like a sack of potatoes and not so gently dropped her on the bed. Sheldon was hovering over her like a mother hen, trying to grab her arm and examine it but Cameron just shook him off.

"Doc, I'll wrap it in gauze but you know I'll heal overnight so back off and give me some space. Honestly, you'd think by now you'd understand that I'm not a human being. I'm the same Cameron that you freaked out over when we first met."

"Sheldon Cooper does not _freak out, _Cameron. You simply misread my response to discovering you were a synthetic person. You've never been less than a human being to me so you'll have to excuse my concerns. What ever possessed you to do such self-harm?"

"Don't get your panties in a twist, Doc. I know you never thought of me as a machine and I appreciate it. You have to remember that I can handle myself whereas you, my underweight and overwrought man, need a lot of special care. Are you hungry?"

"Do not change the subject, Cameron. I'll eat something if you let me take care of that arm. That was a cruel thing you did to Penny. You should just have let her go home like she intended. Her life is going to be drastically altered by this experience and knowledge."

"Ain't that the truth." Cameron allowed Sheldon to wrap her arm in a gauze bandage and when he saw 'bloodstains' on her t-shirt he took her to task like a teacher with a hopeless student.

"You're leaking, Cameron. I suppose this was another self-inflicted wound for demonstration purposes? That was sarcasm in case you missed it."

"Thank you for telling me that, Sheldon. I never would have guessed. Actually, Sarah stabbed me with a paring knife. Now, if you're done fretting over me…"

"I'm not hungry but I think Penny will require an alcoholic beverage to calm herself after your presumptuous act. She finds comfort in wine and spirits when confronted with distressing events such as losing her electricity because she bought shoes or when one of her gentlemen callers fails to respond to her plaintive 'call me, okay?' after a night of drunken coitus. Rum is her preferred liquor but I suppose anything alcoholic will do."

She turned to get the unconscious blonde a drink of whatever was in Sarah's stash but Sheldon grabbed her arm.

"Not so fast. Pull up your t-shirt and allow me to at least put a bandaid on your wound." Seeing her 'blood' bothered Sheldon even though he knew it was simply a manufactured substance and not real blood.

"Okay, Doc." She whipped her t-shirt over her head and Sheldon let out a startled squawk of embarrassed umbrage. She stood there in just her black lace bra and Sheldon swore he saw her bosoms heave dramatically even though he knew she didn't respire.

"I shall avert my eyes and place this on your wound, Cameron. I fail to see why you insist on disrobing at the drop of a hat around me." He stuck an Avengers bandaid on her wound that had already begun to close.

Cameron giggled and said, "It's because you see me as a girl, Sheldon, and your outrage and embarrassment tickle me. Sometimes I think you and I are a better match than – "

"Please don't finish that sentence. You know good and well that you are John's devoted companion or whatever term is used Up Time and you're just trying to make me feel ever weirder and more uncomfortable than normal around women. I suppose that 'tickles' you to no end."

There was a degree of what she'd learned to categorize as 'sadness' in his voice. She hadn't realized that she'd struck a nerve and she hurried to repair whatever damage she'd inadvertently inflicted. If she could 'like' someone, she definitely liked Doc.

He never lied and his bluntness was refreshing. He never treated her any differently because she was a reprogrammed terminator than he did any human. She often played back those moments from her storage and she always felt 'warm' when he called her a 'synthetic person'.

"I did not mean to make you uncomfortable. I am sorry. Sometimes my understanding of humor and its application is incomplete and I misuse it." She was startled to realize that she had never apologized and meant it to anyone but the Doc. She set a query subroutine to review her history and confirm her supposition.

Penny had been 'awake' and aware for a bit and she was listening intently to what was said. She almost burst into tears when Sheldon recited her need for alcohol and why. The 'gentlemen callers' had hit home and she remembered the look on his face when she had ranked him out before this all started.

She cracked open one eye just in time to see Cameron whip her t-shirt over her head and the look on Sheldon's face was so precious. He reddened and looked away and their subsequent conversation made her look at the two of them in a different light.

_'She called me 'Omaha' and then she sliced open her arm and I fainted.'_

Penny groaned and opened both her eyes. She stared at Sheldon for a moment and then tried to sit up but the young girl effortlessly lifted Penny to her feet and kept her hands on Penny's upper arms to steady her.

"I shall go now and find you some rum as Dr. Cooper suggested. Your reaction to my status was unexpected and I believe the two of you have something to discuss even if neither of you wishes to talk about the pachyderm in the bed."

"That's 'elephant in the room', Cameron, although your application of the metaphor was quite appropriate. Bravo." His comment was made in an unusually dry tone of voice and Cameron knew that no response was necessary. She simply filed away the correction in her thesaurus and went in search of rum.

Sheldon looked at Penny and sighed. He really sucked at connecting with humans and he was so painfully shy without the armor of his Physics.

"I suppose you want to have that conversation now." His voice was flat as if he were saying 'I have a dentist appointment and they're out of Novacaine'.

"Sit down, Sheldon, and start at the beginning. I think I have figured out that somehow, some way, you've invented some sort of time travel gizmo and all this is about the future."

She sat on the side of Cameron's bed and patted the area beside her indicating that that would be his 'spot' for his lecture.

"I'm not sure where to start, Penny. Things are confusing and – "

"Start at the beginning, Sheldon."

"Okay. It was a warm spring evening in ancient Greece and – Ow! Jesus, woman! Quit hitting me!"

"I didn't mean that far back. I meant when you disappeared into the blue thingy, dumbass!"

"Huh. I thought that disparaging title was exclusively Winkle's but I see now I was wrong. Fine. After our discussion in the hallway I realized that I had no place in your world and so I decided to see what other alternate universes might have to offer me."

"Listen, Sheldon, I said I was sorry and – " Penny interrupted him, not really wanting to be reminded of one of the cruelest moments in her life.

"Do you wish to hear this or not? And don't punch me again, Penny, or your butt will be too damned sore to sit on when you drive home. Now, where was I?"

"Alternate universes." She hadn't meant to hit him but lately it seemed to be her response of choice. _'He wouldn't really spank me, would he?'_

He explained simply that he knew that alternate timelines existed mathematically although no one had really attempted to prove them other than checking the math. It really wasn't considered an area worthy of study.

He proved the math and then began tinkering with how to open up a pathway or gate to another timeline. His first few attempts ended in failure as the equipment he had access to failed to stand up to the rigors of his process.

He 'dumbed down' his process until his apparatus could sustain the amount of power necessary to open a portal without melting. The problem then became weight. He couldn't haul around an 80-pound box of circuitry and power source in a backpack so he worked harder to reduce the size and power requirements.

"I finally was ready to attempt a gateway and I was so excited. I took examples of our technology and literature and I opened the first portal and stepped though – into nothingness. The landscape was barren and the air was thin and hardly breathable. I reopened the portal and returned at the exact same moment that I'd left."

"I don't need to hear about each trip, Moon Pie, just the last one."

"Most were failures but then I attempted the one that Howard spied on…"

"And?" _'It's like pulling teeth'_, she thought.

Sheldon really didn't want to go into any detail until he'd figured out some way to ease her into what had been their lives together.

"Perhaps I should simply let you read my journal in the privacy of your apartment. I don't think I can talk about it. I'm sorry, Penny, but my mind's made up."

"Is it that bad?" She saw how his hands had begun trembling again and he looked pale and sweaty and his breathing seemed labored.

"Go home, Penny. There's no place for you here. Just – go home. Forget about anything I've ever said and for God's sake, never mention this place or these people to anyone. Live your life. Have fun. Enjoy life to the fullest."

He got up and walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. "I can't talk to her about it. We can trust her to keep her mouth shut - especially after she reads the last few entries in my journal. No one should know when they're going to die but I do, thanks to Omaha."

* * *

Cameron took him by the arm and led him out into the backyard.

"Talk to me, Doc."

* * *

"Now remember, don't tell your mother, John. She'd skin me alive if she knew. Hey, ya know who the Jetta belongs to? Expecting company?"

Derek hoped that neither the Tin Lizzie nor John's mother noticed the bluish discoloring around his throat where the Triple-8 had tried to snap his neck. He liked his testicles attached and fully functional, thank you very much.

He pulled the Chevy Avalanche in behind the Cherokee and went into the house. They had a mission to plan assuming they hadn't been followed. John brought samples of their discoveries in with him.

It would be a very long night for everyone involved.

* * *

Penny read the journal and then closed it. _"This can't be true. I can't – I mean, if it hasn't happened yet then there's the chance that we can do something, go someplace isolated and hide until it's all sorted out.'_

Taking a deep breath and wiping the tears from her face and eyes on Cameron's bed sheets, Penny walked into the kitchen and handed Sarah the spiral notebook.

'_He knows when he's going to die! How can someone live with that knowledge hanging over their head day after day. He will probably set up some sort of schedule – '_

"Do you know what's in here, Sarah?" Penny asked.

"No. I only met Doc today so how could I?"

"I'm going. Tell him – tell him that I'll talk with him when I've had time to wrap my head around all that – stuff. Please see to it that he gets this back and that he has a ride to Pasadena. I – I can't be around him right now. I can't bear to look at him knowing…I just can't – "

Sarah watched as Penny's face scrunched up into a mask of anguish. When the sobs started, Sarah reached out and grabbed her into a fierce hug and stroked her hair and murmured motherly sounds to soothe her.

* * *

Derek walked into the bungalow and called for Sarah but all he could hear was someone crying like they'd just lost something or someone that meant the world to them. He'd heard that sound many nights in the Resistant HQ in a parking garage underneath what was left of a police station.

He signaled John to stay well back and then he jacked a shell into the shotgun he carried and stepped into the kitchen.

He took in the tableau of Sarah holding a young woman who was crying her heart out. Had something happened? Sarah held up a hand to let him know everything was okay and the girl stepped back, wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands. Derek almost dropped the shotgun.

"Omaha?"

* * *

**There will be more journal entries to tie certain aspects of this all together but not until probably Sunday.**


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Sent D^2 home but kept my laptop. Now hometime is Thu or Fri.

Reparata

* * *

Chapter 7

John Connor looked at the pretty blonde who moments before had been crying into his mother's shoulder and then glanced at Derek Reese. The look on Reese's face wasn't one he'd ever seen before except sometimes when he caught him looking at his mom when he thought no one was looking.

"Where's Cameron?" First things first: _Prioritize responses given your understanding of the situation_. His mother had drilled those basics into his head in some manner, shape, or form since he could remember.

"She's outside. We have a visitor. They're talking. At least that was her intention, to get him to talk, open up, answer some basic questions, I guess, and determine his intentions."

John's mind jumped to a conclusion: stranger, basic questions, intruder, _danger_. He jacked a round into his Sig Sauer and charged out the back door and onto the verandah.

"Step away from her and let me see your hands!" _'If this is the best 'terminator' infiltrator Sky Net can come up with, maybe things are looking up in the future.'_

Sheldon Cooper was nobody's fool but he was also a newly minted fatalist. He wasn't going to die today no matter what happened and that made him feel invulnerable.

He stood between Cameron and the man holding the pistol and put his hands on his hips and gave him his best glare. He had long ago given up trying to influence people through mind control. He just didn't seem to be able to connect with the lower life forms on a psychic level but he'd mastered the glare and used it effectively.

"Young man, you've interrupted a personal conversation. If I wished to 'step away' from this young lady I would. However, I don't. Now be a lamb and go back inside. I believe it's almost time for Power Rangers and you know you don't want to miss the beginning."

Cameron swallowed a laugh and then schooled her features so that John couldn't see her laughing at the look on his face. People rarely got over on John Connor but the Doc did and apparently it wasn't limited to the future.

He turned his back on the gunman and said to Cameron, "I brought a prototype of what I modestly call the 'Cooper Pulse Pistol' for you to evaluate and perhaps find a way to mass produce and cache for the Resistance to find and utilize Up Time. If the younger version of the General is willing, I can obtain the raw materials and components locally that are no longer available in the future. Manpower would be your problem."

"That's probably up to Sarah, not John. Sarah and Derek." She wondered if Sheldon knew that the 'young man' he'd dismissed was John Connor and if he did, would he care?

* * *

"Omaha? My God, what are you doing here?" Derek was stunned at how pretty she looked when she wasn't filthy or drunk or both.

"Why does everyone keep calling me 'Omaha'? I'm Penny Ford. I live at 2311 Los Robles in Pasadena and I think I'm losing my mind. This – this is too much for me to handle. First Sheldon hops into and out of some blue thingy – "

"It's called a vortex. Doc's here? Cool. Where is the S.O.B.? I hope he brought down the prototype. Sarah, we need to talk, all of us. We found something that has to be taken care of and it can't wait too damned long."

He smiled at Penny again and then walked out onto the verandah. He wanted to be there when John got a look at the Cooper Pulse Pistol. They _could_ demonstrate it on the Tin Miss but he figured that John and the Doc would both object for pretty much the same reasons.

* * *

"Doc!" Derek's voice boomed out and John pulled the trigger in startled surprise. There was no safety on the Sig Sauer.

Sheldon half-turned at the sound of his nickname and caught the muzzle flash out of the corner of one eye and that started a miraculous chain of events within his mind.

He calculated the speed of the bullet, the obvious trajectory, the distance between the young man and himself and came to a conclusion: he was going to die.

That realization brought forth another torrent of calculations, thoughts, suppositions, hypotheses regarding the well-known 'butterfly effect' that were interrupted rather abruptly by the passage of 124 grains of projectile traveling at 1200 ft/second through the space he previously occupied.

Cameron Phillips was struck in the forehead by the exiting projectile after she threw Sheldon bodily out of its path. Had she not done so, the impact would have severed his spine somewhere between the T5 and T7 vertebrae instead of just gouging a groove out of the skin near his shoulder. It was more of a burn from the bullet's graze than a wound.

* * *

Two male voices echoed "Cameron" and one ran towards where she was kneeling over the man who fussed at her to 'leave me alone – you've got a dent in your forehead,' in a quieter voice than he'd said her name, 'and your higher functions may be impaired'.

"You are the one whose 'higher functions' may suffer if you bleed out." He was in no danger of that, of course, but she needed him calm. Humans responded to trauma by going into shock. She knew that from her database. She knew everything about humans except how to interact with them on a personal level – except perhaps with this man.

All that changed after the blow to her forehead. Even 432 foot pounds of energy couldn't stop a terminator, but it could damage 'higher functions' just as Sheldon warned her.

It damaged the emo-chip that Sheldon had recalibrated. It automatically went into 'reset' and rebooted to its default programs – the ones that were driving Sarah and Derek nuts.

Sheldon tried to get up but Cameron pressed her palm down on his bony chest to stop him.

"No. Don't move, baby. You've been shot."

He saw that her eyes, brown with gold and green flecks, were slightly unfocused and the pupils were unequal, and that she was crying but without any tears.

John Connor knelt beside Cameron and tried to see how much damage she'd sustained but she simply pushed him away, using an unusual degree of force. He landed a few feet away on his butt.

She screamed at him to 'stay the fuck away from Doc' and then she turned her attention back to Sheldon.

"Oh, Doc, I almost lost you. You're the only one who treats me like a real woman not a _thing _and I – I think I love you, Doc!"

Sheldon turned beet red but kept his wits about him. He fumbled around in his messenger bag and handed her his emergency first aid kit. While she was opening it, he pulled out a stun gun and tapped her on the neck, immobilizing her temporarily. She sprawled motionless across him, her eyes open and he thought he saw a momentary flash of red behind her irises but ignored it.

Derek and John rolled Cameron off of Sheldon and John pointed his pistol at Sheldon saying, "You killed her!" Derek jerked the gun from his hand.

"He stunned her temporarily, idiot! He'd never hurt her."

"I need a knife. I have to replace her emo-chip before she reboots. She doesn't know what she's saying. The bullet must have damaged the chip."

Derek handed him a combat knife and Sheldon quickly located the last incision in her scalp and popped the medical staples and then quickly removed the chip and replaced it with the one he brought from the future.

* * *

Derek had manhandled John back to the verandah and told Sarah to 'keep him out of our way' and then rushed back to help Sheldon but he'd already finished and was wrapping a gauze pad and bandage around his upper arm one-handed. He'd pulled his t-shirts over his head and was bare-chested – a pale but toned chest.

Cameron sported a similar bandage on the wound on her forehead. It was a textbook example of how to bandage a wound whereas the one Sheldon was putting on was more haphazard.

* * *

"John, honey, you know she didn't mean it. You heard Sheldon – the chip was damaged and he replaced it. Tin Miss will be okay, you'll see."

Sarah had long ago accepted the odd 'emotional attachment' that the two had. John thought it was 'love' but Sarah knew better. He might 'love' her but Cameron was programmed to be his bodyguard and used all her talents to perform her task and mission. Sarah didn't think a machine could love so she wrote it off to 'faking it off for the mission'.

She also ignored the sounds of enthusiastic sexual gymnastics that emanated from his, okay, _their_ bedroom. He was 23 for God's sake and if he got off using her, she could ignore it. It wasn't like he could actually have a real social life.

Sarah looked back into the kitchen and saw Penny standing in the doorway, watching. There were tears running down her cheeks. Before Sarah could say or do anything, Penny turned around and ran from the bungalow. A minute later she heard her car start.

'_So much has happened to her world in such a short time and she was barely hanging on but now this – this crap happens!'_

**_Not a cliffie - I just ran out of steam. Bedrest is tiring._**

Rep


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Penny started her car but then the tears came again. She rested her head on the steering wheel and just said over and over to herself, _'What am I going to do? What am I going to do? What am I going to do?' _until a sharp rap on her window made her jerk her head up.

There was a cop standing there in his blue uniform with his pistol drawn. He'd used the pistol to tap on her window. She rolled down her window.

"Honestly, officer, I have not been drinking. I've just broken up with my boyfriend and – "

"Not important. Have you seen any of these people here abouts?" He held up a fan of photos and she recognized Sarah, Derek, the kid, John, and Robo-Barbie who was currently all over Sheldon.

"Y-yeah! They live right there," she said, pointing to the bungalow. "Is there a problem? My boyfriend's in there visiting them but he hasn't done anything wrong, honest! He's a physics teacher and – "

She stopped talking when the officer just walked away and joined two other cops. She wiped her eyes and noticed something. Either she was hallucinating or they were triplets, all with the exact same build and facial features.

_'Sheldon wrote about identical models of – damn, what did he call them? Triple-8s! Some company called 'Sky Net' in the future is trying to take over the world and these things are its soldiers. He wrote that they were mass-produced and were 'skin jobs' cut from the same mold and were identical in every way.'_

"Oh my God. Sheldon! They'll kill all of them including Sheldon!"

He'd been very descriptive when writing about how these 'Terminators' functioned and how they killed anything human within their target area without regard for guilt or innocence, age or sex. If they found a human being, if the human was lucky, they killed it. Some were not so lucky. They became 'subjects' for experiments in some lab.

She started blowing her horn in a series of long and short beeps and she hoped she remembered her girl scout thing. One of the cops turned and walked quickly toward her, his pistol held in both hands like he was going to shoot her!

He was about 5 feet in front of her and she dropped the Jetta in gear and floored it. The car lurched forward and knocked the cop down. Her airbag deployed and dazed her but she wrestled the powder-covered gray bag out of her way and saw the cop clawing his way up the front of her car, a large flap of skin hanging off his face. She backed up and ran over the cop and then backed up and did it again and again and again until someone jerked open her door and dragged her out onto the street.

She started screaming and flailing away at the man who was manhandling her toward the bungalow, too panicked to think about all those self defense courses Sheldon had encouraged her to take after one of the waitresses from the Cheesecake Factory had been assaulted and robbed in the parking lot.

She landed one blow and felt bone crunch under her balled up fist and for a moment thought _'Ha! Take that you robo-cop asswipe!'_ It took a moment to remember the metal face that was revealed by the missing flap on skin in the terminator's face. _'Bone?'_

Whoever had her let go immediately but then someone really strong wrapped their arms around her and threw her in the back of the Avalanche's cab and told her 'Shut your yap, Omaha, and don't frikkin' move from this truck unless you want to die here and now!'

She recognized the voice – Cameron – and cringed when she heard her ask someone 'Does it hurt, baby? It looks bad, Doc. So much blood.'

"Cameron! We need your help hauling the bodies to the burn pit. He's not dying, just bleeding like a stuck pig. You better stick close to John. I think he's got green-eyed problems," said Derek. Thanks to Doc's pistol, the two Triple-8s were just smoking scrap metal.

"John Connor's eyes are brown, deep chocolate brown when he's angry, light brown when he's happy. Not green."

Derek laughed and then rolled his eyes. Metal had no idea about emotions, not even one chipped like this one was.

"I meant he's jealous. Jealousy is sometimes referred to as the 'green eyed monster'."

"Thank you for explaining that although I felt it was a metaphor since humans, unlike Terminators, cannot change eye color at will. To demonstrate, she closed her brown eyes and opened them up and Derek saw deep blue and shuddered. He hated it when she went all 'unnatural' on him. She was metal but he'd learned to tolerate her, sometimes forgetting she'd been made not 2 miles from where they stood.

Sheldon started to get out of the car but Cameron just fixed him with a look that said 'Stay' and he did. She smiled and said, 'Good boy!' and Sheldon muttered something under his breath and then got out of the backseat of the Avalanche and followed her back behind the bungalow.

"I want their program modules and their power sources before you melt them. I have an idea how to – "

"DOC! Get you ass back in the truck and keep your wife company! Derek, go back and move Omaha's car and drag the crunched Terminator back here. Man, talk about 'overkill'. No chip's coming outta that mess."

Sheldon crawled back into the backseat of the truck and Penny was all over him, fussing about his arm, his nose, his blackening eyes and apologizing and wiping up the blood and trying not to start blubbering in absolute terror about the mess her life had suddenly become.

"Penny, please stop fussing. Honestly, for someone who castrates bulls for shits and giggles and a trophy you seem inordinately upset about – "

"Because it's your blood, you damned idiot, your blood and I'm the reason you're going to look like a starving raccoon by morning. Sheldon, who are these people and…and…oh, shit, I killed a cop, Sheldon, and I'm going to go to jail and you know what someone like me ends up being in jail? Someone's bitch, that's what, and I don't like girls like that and I'll have tramp stamps all over and I'll never get to be an actress and…and…"

He sighed and ran through all the ways to get her to calm down and couldn't come up with a single way to get her to shut up and let him think except –

He reached over, pulled her across his lap and just held her tightly to him, tucking her head under his chin and singing Soft Kitty until she sighed and seemed calmer.

"First, he wasn't human and thus deactivating him in such an innovative manner hardly constitutes a criminal offense given that the officers who belonged in that cruiser are probably dead and in a landfill, thus you have done the world a public service and in normal times would be hailed as a hero but these, Penny, are far from normal times."

Penny said in a small voice, "His face – a chunk was ripped off and there wasn't bone underneath but bright metal like in Cameron's arm."

"Yes, Penny, just like in Cameron's arm. But there are other issues we need to discuss. The most important is…what am I to do with you? I can walk away from my job and fight with them but you, Penny, have a life and family and friends and – "

Penny wasn't really listening at all to Sheldon, more like 'hearing but not listening'. She was 'processing' events.

"Holy Shit! She's one of them. She's a Terminator! She's gonna kill us all!"

"Cameron's not a Terminator. She's an advanced model and is developing rudimentary emotions and ethics. She's a 'synthetic person', Penny, and I'll thank you not to refer to her as a 'Terminator'. It's who she was, not who she is now."

"You really like her, don't you, Moon Pie?"

"Yes, Penny, I really like her. She and I are a lot alike. Neither of us seem to understand people, not on a level of social intercourse and neither of us fit in. She has an advantage, though. John Connor, the leader of the Resistance, is in love with her and she, in her own way, is in love with him leaving me just as I was before all this happened."

"Whatcha mean, as you were before all this happened?"

"A woman I find aesthetically pleasing and have developed feelings for cannot imagine being with me in a social and romantic relationship. No matter what the future holds for me, no matter what I know to be true, that will not change."

"I'm sorry I stabbed you in the future, Sheldon. I'll remember to not stab you when I see you with Derek and his brother."

"I stepped on a butterfly…" he said whimsically.

"Huh?"

"There's an unproven concept that people who travel to the past might change the future by something as seemingly unimportant as stepping on a butterfly. I was considering if the concept applied to the future."

"Sheldon, from what I read in your journal, we were married before Judgment Day and you…you died of radiation sickness. We have to find a way to change that. Maybe if we go someplace where the bombs don't fall or where we won't be exposed or – "

"Or if we don't marry, which I see as the most obvious option since, as I stated earlier, you have no romantic interest in me whatsoever. Thus, it would be the most obvious and simple thing for you to just return now, this instant, to Pasadena, pick up your life where you left it and just try to be as happy as you can be for as long as this lasts."

_'Holy crap on a communion wafer – I'm the one he finds 'aesthetically pleasing'…me!'_

"Sheldon, do you – do you love me, Sheldon? Am I who you were speaking of earlier? Is that why my rant tore you up so bad?"

"Badly, Penny. Badly is an adverb and modifies – "

"Damn it, Sheldon, enough with the grammar lessons. Do you love me? Yes or no?"

Derek wrenched open the door of the Avalanche, got in the driver's seat and twisted around and glared at Penny and then said, "Doc, we've got to bug out of here. Tin Miss has pulled the power packs and chips from the metal and fired up the burn pit. John and Sarah are throwing stuff together and we're heading out."

"Where to?"

"Um, that's, um…" He kept looking at Penny and then at Sheldon. He had been trained to 'compartmentalize' intelligence and he felt that Penny had no 'need to know' where they were headed. Besides…

"Cameron searched the bodies and found…digital thermographic representations of Omaha. They have either duplicated her as a 'skin job' or planned to. There were photos of you, Doc, taken by a surveillance drone, too."

"She stays with us until we've eliminated the entire threat team. We'll report her car stolen and that should explain its presence here. Sorry, Penny, but it was on its last legs. The 'check engine' light was – "

"It was my car. My baby. How am I gonna get to work, to auditions?"

Derek got a disgusted look on his face and Sheldon knew precisely what he was thinking since he was thinking precisely the same thing.

"Penny," he said, his voice low and caring, "your association with us is known to the aggressors since they never send in a hit team without doing surveillance first. That means that your life, Penny, has 'ended' and you're now a member, willing or not, of the Resistance."

"Whaaaaat? You have **got** to be shitting me, Sheldon Lee Cooper! What about – "

Sheldon took the chip containing the photos of Penny and put it in his backpack. A terrible feeling swept over him as he realized something.

"Penny, what is the cube root of 4913?" He reached into his messenger bag, unseen by Penny who was sitting on the other side of him."

"17, why?"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Last time: _"Penny, what is the cube root of 4913?" He reached into his messenger bag, unseen by Penny who was sitting on the other side of him._

_"17, why?"_

* * *

It was the last thing she ever uttered. Sheldon shot her with his Cooper Pulse Pistol. The low thrumming noise emitted in such a confined space rattled the windows and he heard Derek scream 'Metal!' as he opened the door and dove out onto the hard asphalt of the driveway.

There were wisps of smoke trailing from 'Penny's' nostrils and ears and her eyes were half open and her mouth was still in that whimsical half-smile that Sheldon found so damned adorable. It was the smile that did him in.

At the cry of 'Metal!', Sarah dropped her half or the heavy body of the Triple-8 that the Doc had fried and ran to the front of the bungalow through the open kitchen door. Her son grunted when he had to bear the full weight of the 'cop'.

"Go help your mother and Derek. I'll fire these two up and join you. That gun Doc made scares me, John. If the bolt of plasma had come any closer, I'd be going into the burn pit as well."

Cam had been surprised by one of the Triple-8s and it managed to get an arm around her throat from behind and was close to ripping off her head when the narrow bolt of plasma had struck it, rendering it immobile; the circuitry of the positronic brain had simply melted into various mineral and chemical components.

"He told me he was from Texas," John offered as an explanation and expected that to answer her question about accuracy but she just looked at him, head cocked to one side, her 'tell' for 'this does not compute'.

"I'll explain later." He ran after his mother.

* * *

"Oh, no…" She didn't know Sheldon Cooper at all but she recognized the keening wail that she heard. Sarah pulled open the door and jerked him away from his embrace of the new-style Terminator and slapped him hard across the face.

"Listen up! We don't have time to mourn our dead like normal people. This is war and I thought you, of all people, would know that. We have to fire her up and then get the hell outta Dodge and regroup and see about making a lot of these little terminator killers you invented."

She pressed her forehead against his and said in a much softer voice than any had ever heard her use: "You loved her. Honor that love. Live to destroy the thing that killed her. Live to make sure no one else has to feel what you feel right now. I'll help you but you have to be willing to help yourself, okay?"

Fastidious and germaphobic Sheldon Cooper wiped his snotty nose on his sleeve and nodded, not wanting to look at Penny, not wanting to see the final stages of the impact of the weapon he'd devised.

"Okay. We'll need a new hide. This one is compromised. I'm surprised none of the neighbors have called the cops."

Sarah laughed and elbowed Sheldon. "Look around, Doc. Houses with boards over windows, overgrown yards, broken-down cars in driveways, brand new SUVs and fancy low-riders just shriek 'Drug Territory'. Who's gonna call the cops?"

"Point taken. I need to recharge these power cells before any more guests arrive. When these three fail to report in, they'll send another team and another and another…they won't stop until John's dead. We have to – "

Cameron came over and put her arm around Sheldon and kissed his cheek softly, much to the surprise of Sarah and to the dismay of John.

"It's you they're coming for. Your Penny was a unique model and from her skeletal remains I can see that several generations of progress have been made. She had lighter skeletal parts and her synthetic skin was actually self-replicating. Doc, they somehow copied her brain waves and imposed them on her processors. Her reaction to the Triple-8s was not one of 'awareness'. Even I couldn't detect her as a terminator. If they're this sophisticated now, I fear the war is lost."

"They were after John and you and Sarah and Derek, not me. Pen – she panicked and her programming went into overdrive and she schmooshed the shit outta the one cop. She never could drive all that – "

"She was a sleeper model, Doc, a one-off. She was sent to get close to you, maybe even love you, until just the right moment and then…" She drew her combat blade dangerously close to her own throat and made suitable sound effects.

A sob choked him off and he turned away from his new acquaintances so they wouldn't see him lose it. He'd learned that tears were a weakness in the Up Time and wouldn't be tolerated for long.

* * *

Derek and Sarah had a brief conversation and she shook her head violently but Derek continued his quiet argument and then John joined in on Derek's side. Finally, Sarah nodded and glanced at Sheldon's back where he leaned against the truck bed.

"Okay, but only after I eyeball the situation and the area. I have final say-so. Agreed?"

"Doc, there's a chance your girlfriend might still be alive." Sheldon twisted around faster than his feet could keep up and he had to grab the side of the truck to keep from falling on his face. His grin would have lit up a room. John stared at the darkened look on Cameron's face at the news the blonde might still be alive.

"Elaborate and provide more than supposition as proof. I am not feeling particularly merciful today and if you're fuckin' with me, you'll never see Up Time. You've been warned. Proceed." Cameron smirked at Sarah whose eyebrows were lifted skyward and whose mouth make a little '0' shape is shocked surprise.

"We reconned an assembly plant not 2 miles from here in an abandoned trucking terminal. We slipped in and found Triple-8s on patrol and several humans being held in wire mesh cages. Some were in bad shape and none looked happy. There was more, though. There were several new models of 888s and 1000s and like Cameron said, 'sleeper' models, I guess."

"And you saw Penny there, alive?" He had the most piercing blue eyes and at any other time Sarah would be captivated by them but it was the 9mm that he so casually aimed in their general direction that dominated the subtext of the conversation and questions.

"Well, no, not exactly. It was 'get in – get out' and we didn't take role or anything but if she was turned out here, Sheldon, then there's the chance – "

"Even if she is dead, we owe it to our fellow surviving humans to rescue them." He stuck his pistol under his shirt behind his back and Sarah smiled at how quickly and mercurially this gawky bag of bones assumed that direction and planning were his responsibility.

"I have final say-so on the mission, Doc. We have – "

"You have no say-so, Sarah. It's a 'go' or we're no better than those mechanical constructs that crave our annihilation. General John Connor would authorize it in a heartbeat if there were even one chance in a thousand to rescue fellow humans. The alternative is unthinkable."

"Well, Doctor Cooper, General Connor isn't here and – "

"Actually, I agree with the Doc and I am here, Mom. I gotta learn to play with the big boys someday and I can't think of a better reason than rescuing humans from a horrible fate. Derek, you and Cameron draw out a map from the pics we took and then we'll hit 'em hard and fast once Doc's toy charges up."

"Wait a minute! This prototype only carries a charge for 8 or 9 firings and it takes a few hours to recharge. By your own words, there are more than that many Triple-8s floating around."

"Than we'll do it old-school. Knock 'em down and unscrew their chips. You remember how, doncha, Doc?"

"Yes, Derek, indeed I do and I also remember the casualty rates which is one of the reasons I perfected the Cooper Pulse Pistol."

"Doc, this is not a debating society. The plan is set. Cam and Derek will handle the tacticals and you and Mom will ride backup and then cleanup."

"Then you take the Pistol, General. Use it when you have no choice and for God's sake don't break it!" It was the first time anyone had called the 23-year old 'general' and meant it. It made his backbone straighten and he felt humbled to be called 'general' by a physics professor who'd already fought major engagements Up Time. Derek noticed the subtle change and smirked at Cameron who just beamed her approval at Sheldon.

_'Uh-OHHHH, gonna be trouble if Doc's girlfriend ain't still kickin' and Cameron doesn't get her priorities straight,' thought Sarah. 'John may have to make a command decision he's not ready for.'_

* * *

6 hours later

It was almost too easy. The triple-8s were on a predictable patrol pattern outside the facility and the one's inside were on stand-down or something. The 'upgrades' were all immobile. They were probably waiting for their human 'brain dumps' before being activated. Sky Net did not waste energy needlessly.

The small team flowed across the terminal area and took out the 4 triple-8s that were active outside and then seeped inside and took out the active terminator models.

Cameron had to pull Sheldon off a disabled terminator that resembled Penny. He was screaming in rage and disfiguring it until not even a scrap of flesh was intact.

"Doc, sweetie, you have to calm down and focus. Let's find her and get the hell out of here. Sarah, Derek and John are preparing the charges to bring this place down and we need to move the living outside, away from danger." They hadn't brought nearly enough thermite.

Cameron found her lying on her side facing away from the front of the cage she'd been kept in. She ripped off the wire mesh and pulled Penny out. She was barely conscious and dehydrated. Sheldon wasn't much help until Cameron said, "If you want her to die, just keep standing there and sniveling and wringing your hands, Doc!"

* * *

Two hours later

The raiders melted away just like they'd come. Sheldon and Cameron had taken two other 'replacements' to the local ER entrance and said that they'd run across them in a 'crack house' they were surveying for the city to tear down. No questions were asked. Cam and Sheldon just walked away after doing 'their civic duty'.

Cameron grabbed Sheldon's hand and gave it a squeeze. "She'll be fine, Doc. You'll need to keep an eye on her, a close eye, to make sure they don't come for her again. Maybe take her someplace on vacation."

"You need to hook up with John and stay by his side, Cameron. That's why he sent you back. Penny and I – we'll get along. I have a manufacturing business to build and you have a war to fight. Don't let him out of your sight."

"Here's your bag and journal. Use the University as a drop site for any completed items. We'll be in touch via cell phone so let me, er, us know where you'll be."

"Not where, Cameron Philips, when. Once Penny's feeling better and understands the situation, we're going further down-time and hole up someplace and build weapons and move them Up-Time to John."

"This is going to get complicated – and expensive but…" Sarah interrupted them, "take the Avalanche. There're med supplies and cash and weapons in the back. I'd suggest – "

"You can't tell them what you don't know, Sarah."

.

.

.

.Next: Penny meets Omaha and learns about Up-Time.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

* * *

He wasn't prepared for her hysteria. Not at all. When she realized she was in a strange moving vehicle, covered with a blanket, she panicked and started to scream. Even with the windows up, Sheldon knew someone might hear her and call the cops and that would be the end of it.

He turned down a quiet side street and headed for the university. He could park in the student lot and try and talk with her. Sheldon could understand her shock and fear but was uncertain how to deal with it.

He drove to a remote parking lot near one of the athletic practice fields and parked and handed her a bottle of water.

"Penny, I know it's a lot to handle. I know you're scared and I know nothing makes sense but I have to establish a baseline of your level of knowledge and possible substitution date."

She guzzled the water bottle dry and asked for another. "I don't know how long I was there. All they did was measure my body and take impressions of my teeth and my face and – " She started to cry again and he climbed into the backseat and put his arms around her and stroked her hair until she fell asleep.

'_This isn't getting us anywhere. We need a place to stay until she's healthy and somehow I have to slip back into my life and start acquiring...of course!'_

* * *

"Mom, remember when I called you from Germany and said that I was coming home but that I'd met a friend and we needed…Sanctuary?"

"Sheldon, come home. I understand that the time you spoke of has come. Your Meemaw will have the tenant house all set up for you and I promise you that no one will know you're here. You never really went into detail, son, just that – "

"Yeah, well, I'm bringing Penny home with me. She's been," he took a deep breath and lied, "she was assaulted and she needs someplace to pull herself back together. I'll be there in three days, Mom."

He made a mental note to go back to 2002 and call his mother and tell her that someday he'd call her and ask for 'sanctuary' and for her to have his Meemaw set up the old sharecropper house for him. Sometimes time travel was cool, sometimes.

* * *

While Penny slept, Sheldon went to the University Credit Union and withdrew $50,000 from his savings account. He would need the cash for materials and traveling. Penny would need clothes and they'd need to eat and…there was so much to worry about. He was stressed and he'd forgotten all about the 'stash' in the back of the Avalanche that Sarah had mentioned.

* * *

P-POV

_I found Sheldon's bag and his journal but I won't read it. Not without his permission. I'm been mean and arrogant and hurtful and the last thing I want to do is violate his privacy. I think that would be the end of us – his privacy is pretty much the only thing of his that I haven't shit on lately. I sure never figured Sheldon Cooper would have a young woman crawling his frame and kissing him goodbye like she did but I saw it with my own eyes._

_I'm writing in a notebook Sheldon brought me for my 'thoughts, impressions, memories and ideas'. _

_I feel yucky and dirty and I really want to go home, take a bath and soak but Sheldon says 'it's not safe, Penny', without going into detail. The last thing I remember is waiting on Sheldon to come back to the apartment after he stepped out of the blue thingy on Howard's video. That's the last clear impression I have except that Tattoo Guy came up and sprayed something in my face. _

_The next impressions are all physical, like I was being touched all over, examined, measured, probed and things were put inside me. I was like on drugs but not able to move or talk or resist. There was no real pain, just pressure and I was afraid and no one talked, not even to each other. _

_I was always cold, always thirsty and I don't think I ate at all. When that girl tore open the cage, I thought she'd come to murder me but then I saw Sheldon and – _

_All I seem to do is cry. Every time he touches me, tries to comfort me, I just cry harder. I'm so ashamed of what I said to him and yet, I think I'm losing it. He's so patient and tender with me. He says we're going to Texas and 'hide out in the past' whatever the hell that means. I know Texas is backwards compared to L.A. and all, but I hardly thing it's that bad. He says all he wants is for me to be safe from 'them' while he builds weapons. Is Sheldon a terrorist?_

* * *

S-POV

Penny is such a joy and such a pain at the same time. We've driven straight through to Las Vegas and now we're heading east. If I had my head on straight, I'd drive straight through to Omaha, take her father to the barn and have a long conversation with him and leave her there, safe. A father's job is to keep his kids safe and I think Penny's dad's a real father in that sense, not like mine.

But I can't shake the need for her and the future can be bent not overtly changed. I also have to keep a look out for butterflies. I can't change my own future without changing so many others and it isn't fair to them to snatch their futures from them just so I can have mine.

It's future history: Penny Ford and Sheldon Lee Cooper will marry and he will die in her arms from radiation poisoning. She will become a vital member of John Connor's 'staff' and will help win the war against Sky Net. Someplace and time in all that mess I come back into her life, but I'm not sure if I'm there permanently or just a shade passing through. I don't know if I'm back as her husband or as her dead lover. She's older and wiser and goes by the war-name of 'Omaha'. Omaha doesn't love me any more. Hell, she hates _everyone._

I watch Penny as she drives the Avalanche towards Galveston and our destiny. The headlights of on-coming traffic highlight the planes of her face and accentuate the plumpness of her luscious lips and I finally give in to sleep.

My last thought is that my life is empty without her in it.

* * *

P-POV

_I pull into a rest stop and kill the engine and then lock the doors. It's cold and the truck will soon be like an icebox but I've got the blankets ready to cover us. I'm tired and can't drive much more without sleep and I know Sheldon's been burning the candle at both ends and thus we both need a break._

_Bless his heart, Sheldon went shopping for me since the rags I was wearing when 'liberated' were hardly fit for the name. He bought me several changes of underwear and a pair of sleep pants and a long dress that buttoned_ _up the front and went from mid-calf to my throat. It was perfect since I am still sore 'down there' from whatever probing and poking they'd done when I was their prisoner._

_He doesn't talk much and I catch him looking at me out of the corner of his eye sometimes, and I can't put a name to the look on his face but I think it's sadness, like he knows something I don't and he's sad about it. _

_I pull open the blanket that he's wrapped himself in and curl up in the space between his arms. He automatically wraps me up and I feel safe and warm but know that soon the temperature will drop into the low 30s and we'll need the other blankets._

_I whisper his name and he smiles in his sleep and he looks so peaceful and innocent that I just maneuver the blankets around us and press a kiss against his throat and sigh his name and fall asleep._

_If this is the way the world ends, so be it._

* * *

Sarah sighs in her sleep and Derek wraps her tighter in a blanket and tries not to imagine the expanse of tattooed skin that likes just beneath her hairline, inches from his lips. She squirms her way around until her face in buried in the warmth of his neck and he closes his eyes and just enjoys the few moments of normalcy before the day breaks.

John Connor rises from the other bed in the cheap motel and pulls on boxers and takes up a stance at the window, peeking through the improvised blackout curtains at the parking lot. Cameron has begun to emulate sleep and he wonders what other 'emulations' she's capable of since the Doc replaced her damaged chip with another one.

"John, you worry too much. Doc and his girl will be fine. You don't know him like Derek and I do. He's your up-time arms specialist and he's done so much in so little time. I almost feel sorry for Sky Net. Between Omaha and the Doc, it will only be a matter of time. All this will be as if it never was, John."

Cameron had risen soundlessly and wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his back. She was capable of using almost any portion of her external anatomy to measure his vitals, but she preferred these few intimate moments in the morning.

She pressed a kiss into the skin of his back and whispered "I love you, John," and then dressed efficiently and left the room to gather breakfast.

When the door clicked shut, Sarah's eyes popped open and she had a moment of panic until she remembered where she was and then she relaxed and savored the peacefulness that would probably not last the day.

* * *

CalTech  
Pasadena

"Has anyone heard from Sheldon?" Leonard broached the question that was on everyone's mind. Penny's car had been found in a bad part of Glendale, stripped and burned, but nothing had been heard from Sheldon or Penny.

"His Outlook has an 'out of office' message that says he'll return from 'vacation' in 4 days. Perhaps he and Penny have finally overcome their barriers and even now are wrapped in one another's arms greeting the day in some sunny place like Mexico."

The guys looked at each other and almost by mutual assent responded with…'Nahhh, never happen'.

* * *

I10 Rest Stop  
Blythe, Az

It was freezing in the cab of the Avalanche and Penny snaked an arm out of the warmth of the blankets and started the truck and then hurried to tuck herself back in her warm and dark Sheldon Cooper cocoon.

The Granny dress had ridden up until her buttocks were bare but still warm, pressed as they were against Sheldon's t-shirt covered stomach. One large and warm palm was splayed across her abdomen while the other arm provided her with a pillow of sorts.

His morning erection was poking her in the fanny. She tried not to wiggle her butt to place the head of his erection against her folds. Sheldon would freak out and besides, they still hadn't had that long talk she'd promised him they'd have. Once she settled things between them, then there'd be future opportunities to tease him awake but not now.

"Sheldon, I need to arrange my clothes, sweetie, and then we need to find the restrooms and maybe a McDonald's or something. I'm starved, sweetie, and I know you're hungry."

She knew the instant he realize where things were between them and she giggled until Sheldon pulled the blankets off her and tried to hide his arousal.

"Hey, it's c-c-cold, Sheldon. Share the warmth!" She never expected him to wrap her up in his blanketed arms and tuck her back into his warmth or to say, "Fuck it, Penny. Let's just snuggle until the truck warms up."


	11. Chapter 11

I'm taking a break for a few days to sort some things out. Have a safe new year.

* * *

Chapter 11

They drove straight through, stopping only to refuel the truck and their bodies until they reached Ft Stockton, TX and then Sheldon declared a 'rest day' and he found a nice clean motel outside of town and got them a room with two twin beds.

The clerk looked at Sheldon but took the two Ben Franklins in lieu of picture ID and Sheldon slipped him another Ben for the room.

"Need a room in the back. Twin beds. Her husband is looking for her and he's a mean bastard. Cops won't do anything about the abuse since he's a big wheel in a hick town. She's all the family I got left so I'm taking her home to San Antonio."

He deliberately misled the clerk in case any of Sky Net's mechs came looking for them. He didn't think it would come to that but he was through taking chances with her life.

The clerk's smirk told Sheldon nothing at all. His inability to 'read' subtle facial expressions was a plague on his existence. Luckily it wouldn't matter much longer.

He pulled the truck around behind the motel and told Penny the day's plans.

Penny jumped at the idea of a hot shower and getting clean and so while Sheldon unloaded the truck and then went to a diner and bought breakfast, she quickly scanned his journal and then locked herself in the bathroom, totally distraught.

She washed herself clean, washed her hair and then repeated the process. By the time Sheldon got back, she was on her third washing and still didn't feel clean.

* * *

Sheldon stood outside the locked bathroom door and knocked and called her name. He was concerned about her. Ever since they'd awakened that morning in such a compromising position, she'd seemed to withdraw from him. Sheldon was afraid of some 'female' emotional breakdown that might be sneaking up on them. He knew _he _had 'issues'. He could handle them but he had no idea how to handle anything that might rise up in Penny after such a series of physical and emotional traumas.

"Penny, I'm going to break down this door if you don't open it immediately. I need to make sure you're okay, Penny, nothing more. Please open this door…"

He couldn't hear anything other than the shower and so he forced the door open using Cameron's combat knife that she'd given him as a 'going away' present. It was razor sharp and made of the same metal that Terminator skeletons were made of and thus virtually unbreakable and slipped between the door and the tongue of the lock easily.

He pulled back the shower curtain and tried to 'find' her in the steam. Sheldon reached in to turn off the water but Penny had other ideas.

"No!" She grabbed him and wrapped her arms around him, dragging him into the hot stream. He tried to break loose but she had the advantage of surprise and leverage. He was trying not to fall into the tub while she was already in it and thus had the advantage.

"Pen – " he tried to get her attention but she was in a full-blown panic, turned so far inward that he didn't know if he could bring her out of it. He remembered what Omaha had done Up Time and then the PG-version that Cameron had used to calm him and help him center himself in reality again. He would leave himself in her hands and pray that he made the right decision.

He simply gave up, surrendered, allowed the weight of his world push him down deep and he did so fully aware that he might not be able to come back. He did it willingly for her.

She sensed his defeat and then how he turned into rubber-man Gumby and suddenly _she_ was the one who had her hands full dealing with dead weight.

"Sheldon! Sheldon, damn you! Help me out here. You don't get to do this to me. You don't get to leave me all alone to handle this shit, not again, not like in your precious fucking Up-Time. I can't be who you need me to be, Sheldon. I can't be your fucking Omaha, I just can't. I'm weak and she's – damn you, help me! Stand up, you stupid fuck! You helped Cameron and she's just a fucking machine! I was right! You could only get it up for a damned computer…"

Sheldon shoved her away and she ended up on her back on the cold tile floor of the bathroom. The breath was knocked out of her and he'd followed her out of the tub and was lying across her naked middle, his forehead on the cool tile. She couldn't tell if he was conscious or –

"Sheldon," she whispered, trying to get a deep breath of air into her lungs. "Sheldon, I'm hurting, and I can't help it if I'm not her – "

Sheldon practically leaped up without flexing a single muscle that she could feel. He slipped his arms under her upper back and behind her knees and carried her into the bedroom and deposited her on the bed furthest from the window and any drafts. He returned for towels and then proceeded to dry her thoroughly, ignoring how intimate some of the pats were, and how long he tended to certain spots.

"Sheldon, could you please look at me and stop what you're doing? I panicked, okay, but I feel a lot better now and I need you to take off those sopping wet clothes before you get pneumonia, okay? I won't peek if you're hung up on modesty."

He didn't move or say anything, just stared down at the wet carpet. He looked at the towel in his hand and dropped it like it was a dirty sock. His face had that vacant look she'd seen in the mirror herself earlier.

"Hey, I read a part of your journal, okay, and I have questions but you have to be alive and healthy to answer them fully so, please, go into the bathroom and get undressed and hang those wet things over the shower rod. I'll find you something to wear in your backpack."

He felt it then. The sense of déjà vu from the first night back from Up Time in his apartment. _She_ had cared for him, kept him safe for those first hours, fed him, wrapped herself around him while he slept. Her programming had been so natural…just like this one.

"Penny, what's the cube of 17?" A casual question asked to cover his actions as he dug into his backpack for his pulse pistol. He felt sick to his stomach when he couldn't find the pistol. He eyed the motel door and wondered about his chances to escape her. He still had his knife and if he could disable her chip…

"I have no idea, Moon Pie. But is this what you're looking for?" He turned and almost smiled at the irony. She held his pulse pistol casually, almost comfortably, and it was aimed at his heart.

Penny knew what she held and she knew why he had been frantically looking for it in his backpack. She'd seen what it could do in the warehouse and her cool exterior belied the panic she felt inside.

_'He thinks I'm one of them! He's in a panic just like…me!'_ Penny saw how pale he'd become and how his hands seemed tremble and then steady and then begin to tremble again. His control was slipping.

She tossed him the pistol and he fumbled with it before steadying himself and aiming it at her head.

"I asked you a question, Penelope. Kindly display some modicum of decorum and answer me. What is the cube of 17?" He ignored her nakedness and instead concentrated on her facial expressions.

"Fuck if I know, Moon Pie. You're the one with the computer brain, remember? I'm just the alcoholic who makes poor decisions about who I fuck, remember?"

"Yes. And I'm the weirdo who will only have successful coitus with a machine. Yes, I was there, Penny. Your comments were most insightful and I should thank you for them. I was forced to rethink my very existence and it opened new areas of investigation and study. As I told you that first night back in my apart – oh, wait, you weren't – I mean, it wasn't you who held me and – "

"Whoa! Hold it right there, Sheldon. Are you saying we had sex?"

"Of course not. Although you did seem more approachable but perhaps it was only because 'you'," and here he made air quotes that brought a smirk to Penny's lips, "were a machine and I could only become erect and functioning as a true male with a machine."

She almost whispered her retort. "I'm sorry for saying that, Sheldon. It was mean and – "

"It was the truth and sometimes the truth hurts. I can't relate to human females. Perhaps that why I get along so well with Cameron. She's a synthetic person or didn't you know that?"

"The brunette who pulled me out of the cage? She's a terminator thing? But – "

"She was a terminator, Penny, but the General reprogrammed her to be a…a companion. He and I were a lot alike, Penny, are a lot alike, I mean. We both relate better to synthetics than people although John will never admit that he loves Cameron as a true woman."

"And you and this Cameron…did you ever, I mean, well, the way she was so upset with you leaving…"

"She's John's, Penny. She was and is simply my friend."

"But she's a fucking machine, Shel…she's not really a person at all. She's like one of your laptops only in a nicer package."

"She saved me, Penny, Up Time. I almost went crazy with fear and – and she talked to me. Hell, no one believed me at first except for her and the General. When you stabbed me – "

"What! Wait a damned minute. I was there in the future? I stabbed you? What the fuck, Sheldon!"

* * *

Journal Entry – date unknown – entries by Cameron Philips and Dr. Sheldon Cooper

_Once I was stabilized and stitched up, she started asking questions. Pain meds were almost unheard of here and what little they did have was reserved for the 'severely injured'. I guess my injuries weren't 'severe'._

_Her voice was pleasant. She had no accent. Her words were carefully chosen and at times seemed almost apologetic but she asked the same questions over and over, sometimes not even restating them to confirm a previous answer._

_'Why would a member of our Resistance stab you? Do you know Omaha? She says you're metal, a new model of terminator. Are you?'_

_'I don't even know who 'Omaha' is. I didn't get to see much of her face but what I did see was hate-filled.'_

_'She says she was married to you and that you died of radiation sickness. You don't appear to be sick, Dr. Cooper.'_

_'I take care of myself and limit my exposure to situations where I might encounter pathogens. Cleanliness doesn't seem to rate high on people's priorities around here.'_

_Her laugh was a joy to hear. I couldn't see her, of course, because she was standing at the head of the stretcher/bed I was lying on and I could not turn my head._

_'One of the comments Lt. Reese made when he captured you was that you were 'too clean' to be from this time period. So, what year are you from and how did you get here? Who sent you and why? Are you some new kind of model for infiltration? If you want water, you'll have to earn it, Dr. Cooper.'_

_'So I am a prisoner. Who are you people? Terrorists? I came here for the purpose of learning. I am a theoretical physicist and I am one of the five most intelligent people on the planet. My disappearance – '_

_'Why would your wife try to kill you, Dr. Cooper?'_

'_Wife? I assure you I am not married. I have no interests in relationships. They are too time-consuming and I have my research goals. I was simply proving the existence of alternate universes running parallel to my own. I did the math, developed the controller and made 43 successful transits to other time lines before stumbling into this one. I have no need of females and their confusing ways. Besides, I have it on the highest authority that I would only respond sexually to a machine since I have no real emotions.'_

_'So far, Dr. Cooper, I've catalogued fear, anger, dismay, pride and lastly self-pity. None of those are of a sexual nature of course, Doctor, but I'm sure I'll recognize others. It's one of my programmed skill sets – recognizing the thoughts behind emotions, suppressed or not, in human beings. And I'm very good, Doctor.'_

_'You're – you're a program? I'm talking to a computer program? Fascinating.'_

_She stepped into my field of vision and smiled. I'll never forget the surge of emotions I felt when first I saw her. She was about 20 and very beautiful with eyes that seemed to bore into my soul._

_'Hi, Doc. I'm Cameron and I think you and I have a lot to discuss. But for purposes of experimentation only…"_

_She leaned down and kissed me and I had never felt such a surge of emotions in all my life._

_"Hmm. Interesting. I detect all the signs of sexual arousal catalogued in my database. Let's try that again, for experimental purposes, of course.'_

* * *

Penny looked crushed and closed the spiral ring notebook and tossed it on the bed. Sheldon had persuaded her to read his initial entries for 'purposes of understanding the situation a little better' while they ate.

"You kissed her?" Her chin quivered and she scrunched her eyes closed as if she could squeeze out the mental image she had of Sheldon and the brunette. She ran into the bathroom and curled up in the corner and started to sob.

_I made him like this. Me and my drunkenness and shitty decisions. I've lost him to a fucking pretty machine!_


	12. Chapter 12

A little back story for those who've not lived in my 'verse before:

Sky Net is a self-aware computer system that has caused world-wide destruction by taking over the offensive missile systems of the various governments and initiated a nuclear war with the objective of annihilating humanity.

Sarah Connor has a son who will become the leader of the Resistance and she's dedicated her life to training him to become the Savior of Humanity. In the future, John Connor sends his father, Kyle Reese, back to the past where he impregnates his mother. Confusing but it is canon.

In my 'verse, Sarah Connor does not have cancer, her son, John, is enamored of a terminator named Cameron Philips who was sent back in time by his future self to guide him and to become his companion. Their combined objective is to locate and destroy Sky Net before it becomes self-aware. John does not have a wife as in the film.

Sky Net uses time travel to send back mechanical assassins called Terminators to kill John Connor. Periodically, Sky Net establishes weapons caches and Terminator assembly plants in the past to destroy any attempts to thwart its long term goals – the elimination of all human beings.

This is the environment and time that Sheldon and Penny find themselves although Sheldon does run across his 'wife' Up-Time who goes by the name of Omaha and tries to kill him when he is captured by the Resistance. She thinks he's some new kind of Terminator because her husband died earlier of radiation sickness.

Okay, that's it for back story. PM me for any clarifications.

* * *

Chapter 12

Sheldon sat at the small motel table, dumbfounded at Penny's response to his journal entries.

'_I shall never understand women if I live a thousand lifetimes in a thousand alternate timelines. Never.'_

He looked at the section she'd been reading and frowned.

'_Of all the things to home in on, Cameron's assault on my person would have to be the most embarrassing for me in light of her accusations regarding my inability to become aroused by a 'real woman'. Why is she crying now?'_

He opened the bathroom door and walked over to the corner where she was slumped, her face buried in her arms that rested on her drawn up knees. He ran through his mental array of options given similar past situations and settled on just sitting on the tile floor beside her and putting his arm around her and pulling her closer to him. He'd seen it done in films and once Leonard had comforted Priya Koothrappali when she was upset after an argument with Raj.

She stiffened up at first but finally just twisted herself around until she had both hands fisted in his shirt and her face buried against his chest.

Sometimes he did the right thing in personal confrontations. It was a rare occurrence but it did happen and this was one of those times: he kept his mouth shut and waited for Penny's response.

"Do you love her?" She wiped her face against his shirt and he shuddered at the thought of snot all over it but was more concerned with her question.

"Who? Cameron? Penny, Cameron is with John Connor. She _belongs_ to him like a thing even though John and I both treat her as a synthetic person. They need each other and Cameron's overriding program is to mentor and protect John in the past until he becomes General Connor, leader of the Resistance, in the future."

"That's not an answer, Shel. That's an explanation of her job. You kissed her and – do you love her?"

"You need to re-read my journal regarding that period, Penny. _She_ kissed me. Apparently she understands people as little as I do. It's probably why she and I became close Up-Time."

"Still didn't answer my question, so I'll make it simple for you…do you love Cameron Philips? Regardless of her being a synthetic whatever, do you love her?"

He hesitated, trying to organize his thoughts so that his explanation would fully answer her question without further damaging her self esteem.

"She's my dear friend, nothing more. I can't love her. She's not mine to love. Apparently you didn't read the remainder of that section of the journal. I don't love her as a man does a woman but rather…hell, Penny, she's like an innocent little sister."

She sniffed and muttered, "Innocent, my ass," but his Vulcan hearing picked it up.

"Are you jealous of my friendship with Cameron, Penny? Is that what this is all about?"

"Why in the world would you think that? Why would I be jealous of a frikken' microwave or a programmable calculator? Jesus, Sheldon Cooper, get over yourself! You're the last person I'd be jealous about." _Liar, liar, pants on fire._

"Penny, do you love me?" It was a loaded question that he needed answered. If the future history proved correct and they married _before_ Judgment Day…then she loved him _now._

She recoiled from him, her face a mask of shocked amusement. "Me, love you? Not in a million fucking years, sweetie. You're much too much work for a normal girl like me and you're definitely not boyfriend material – but you are my best friend, Sheldon."

Something in him broke. He heard it go 'snap' and for just a second he wondered if a person could die from heart ache. Penny was so damned difficult to talk to sometimes…okay, most times, but he knew that she hardly ever lied except about her weight or her natural hair color and so...

"Then – then why are you crying about Cameron kissing me?"

"See, a normal guy would understand and not have to ask that question."

"I see." He got up and offered her his hand to help her up but she struggled up on her own and walked into the bedroom

"I'm taking this bed," and she proceeded to undress and crawl into it and muttered something that might have been 'goodnight' but he wasn't certain.

"I'm going to secure the truck. I won't be long."

"Whatever," she mumbled.

* * *

He took out his cell phone and dialed a Los Angeles number and let it ring three times and then disconnected. He waited 20 seconds and then redialed and let it ring twice and then disconnected. He counted 40 seconds and dialed again and let it ring.

"Doc, this phone is…" Derek sounded irritated and exactly like he remembered from Up Time.

"Let me speak with Cameron. I need to know something that only she can tell me. It's about Omaha and Up Time, Derek. I think something's off about this whole thing and it's imperative that I have this data. Oh, we'll begin mailing 'product' by next week. Use the drop address we established and email me the cache location you select to our Google email account."

Compton, CA

"Here. It's the Doc and he needs some 'data'." Derek found it difficult to address the terminator as 'Cameron' or any other human name. He just handed her the phone.

"Doc! Sweetie, how are you? We've been wondering about – " Cameron gushed on the phone and Sheldon wondered why she suddenly affected 'sweetie' and other endearments when addressing him. Perhaps her chip was failing again.

"You and Omaha talked Up Time. I need to know when and why we married. I need to know the exact circumstances. I think I've screwed up and stepped on the proverbial 'butterfly', Cameron."

Penny rolled over, her back to the door, and wiped away the tears that had started again the second he'd left the motel room. She felt like such a shit treating him that way but she _had_ read his journal. She was desperate to avoid being the cause of his death in the future. She was the reason he got sick and died. It was simple: if she didn't marry him, he wouldn't die.

The problem was that she _did_ love her wonderfully weird whackadoodle more than any man she'd ever been with and she knew if she showed any of that love, then he'd die.

Penny cursed her damned emotions that made her jealous of a machine and brought about this damned confrontation. If she'd just ignored her own feelings of jealousy and hadn't asked him if he loved the brunette cyborg, she could have handled it but no, she had to ask him. _Stupid, Penny, stupid, stupid…_

It was easier to just drive him away, make him hate her, than to give in to her feelings for him. She knew how he felt about her although it wasn't until he'd confronted her with Tattoo Guy that she was certain.

In his own bumbling and endearing way he was trying to keep her from being with anyone else. He'd been so jealous but had hidden it in his pedantic lecturing about alcohol and unsafe coitus with men who didn't measure up to his standards for her.

God, I'm so screwed…

"She seduced you, Doc. She always felt something for you. It was the natural evolution of friends to lovers to a committed couple. I don't know where or the exact date of the wedding because she was crying and even I couldn't understand her gibberish."

"That is the information I needed, Cameron. I shall continue on as if nothing happened and begin working on the pulse pistols. Perhaps I can reduce the time between pulses or increase the battery storage. This area is more engineering that physics. As I told Derek, look for product in the next week or so."

"Doc, you can't change your fate."

"Then why are we bothering to fight against Sky Net?"

"I – I – I – I…"

"Cameron? Cam – "

He heard Derek calling for John and hollering at Cameron to 'gimme the damned phone' and then Derek got on the phone.

"Doc, she froze up and just says 'I' over and over. What the hell did you do to her?" He could hear the concern in Derek's voice and almost laughed. It was so un-Derek.

"I just asked her a question about fighting our fate and she went into a loop. Tell John to pop her chip and reboot her." He stopped and frowned. This was _Cameron_ he was talking about as if she were a computer with a corrupted program. "Listen, I have to go. Call me if Cameron's functions are less than optimal after rebooting."

He disconnected and sighed, disgusted with life and wishing things could be different. His question to Cameron brought up additional questions and doubts about his own existence and ethical questions that had plagued scientists for years.

Did he have the right to play God with the future?

He locked up the truck and went back to the motel room, more depressed than he'd ever been in his life.

'_Bringing Penny along was a mistake. I should have left her with Derek and Sarah. They'd have watched out for her, trained her to handle Judgment Day and what came afterwards. She should be with someone like Derek Reese if the future can't be changed.'_

He was exhausted and stripped off his clothes and crawled into bed, ignoring Penny's presence in the other bed and falling into a fitful sleep.

* * *

Compton, CA

Cameron was lying on her back on the floor of the motel room they got after splitting up with the Doc and his girlfriend. John was examining her chip's diagnostic display on his laptop and muttering under his breath. All the diagnostic routines had run flawlessly. There was no reason for her to have gone into a loop and shut down.

His mother sat on a bed and watched her son do his magic on the computer. She understood about a third of what he said anymore when he started in on 'bubble memories' and the like. She just hoped he could fix his Tin Miss or he'd be almost impossible to deal with.

Cameron's eyes popped open and she startled both John and Sarah by sitting up and shouting, "Doc, you can't undo what's been done already. It's fate, Doc, fate!"

Sarah had the stun gun out and was ready to zap Cameron if she made any hostile move toward John but amazingly, she closed her eyes and whispered, "He's gonna step on a butterfly," in a little girl's voice.

John knelt down beside her and looked into her eyes. She seemed 'normal' but…

"We have to join Doc and Omaha. It's the only way. We'll lose if we don't. He knows that. He's always known."

She turned to John and said sadly, "He told you that, Up Time, but you still sent him back without us to help him. It was a bad decision, John. He trusted you but you were jealous. That's why you sent the new chip. Now it might be too late. Sky Net knows about him and his project. Sky Net knows everything. He's sent someone after them, I know it. Sky Net's going to win the war before it begins...and it'll be your fault, John Connor. Your fault."


	13. Stomping on Butterflies

A/N: Yes, it's been a while but real life and other interests and a waning and fickle muse all got together and delayed further thought and activity on this fic. i'm revitalized and raring to finishit.

Reparata

* * *

Chapter 13Tsunami

Sarah Connor drove like a woman possessed and Cameron kept an eye out for cops. She could see several hundred yards ahead of them except when the road curved or dipped.

Derek and John slept in the back seat and every once in a while Cameron would reach back and touch a fingertip to John's exposed skin taking his vitals.

John

'Why did she have to say that? I'm not going to send the Doc back in time just to keep him away from her.

He wasn't sleeping and he knew that she knew it. She'd 'taken his vitals' periodically and so knew he was simply resting, thinking, whatever she surmised from her touches.

…but you still sent him back without us to help him. It was a bad decision, John. He trusted you but you were jealous.

'Do I become so crass and shallow in the future that I'd risk the fate of the Resistance to remove one man from her presence?'

He had been jealous of how she hung on the tall physicist when he first showed up at the bungalow and gushed information at him like a core dump. If anything, he envied the way Dr. Cooper threaded his way carefully through the tense moments that followed. If his future self knew how he'd fallen apart when he took out the girlfriend substitute, he'd never have sent him back.

Cameron had told John over and over that she loved him. The new chip enabled her to emulate sleep and other human activities – did it enable her to 'love' a man as a human woman would? Her sex drive seemed boundless and the blue glow that surrounded her irises when she 'orgasmed' – it only seemed to appear in moments of pleasure.

What did it all mean?

* * *

Sheldon was on the cusp of awakening when the buzzing of his cell phone brought him to full consciousness. Only Derek and Sarah Connor had his new burner phone number.

He counted the seconds between calls and answered on the 4th ring of the third call exactly as protocol dictated.

"Hello." No names. Nothing to identify either party if at all possible. Cameron seemed to have forgotten all of that and he himself had been guilty of protocol breach in their last conversation.

"Doc, we're coming to you. Need current location." It was Cameron's voice – but was it Cameron? A Terminator, even a Triple-8, could easily emulate anyone's voice.

"Query: What did I think you were when first we met?"

There was a delay and then the voice answered, "You thought I was a computer program designed to interrogate you."

He gave a mental sigh of relief. "Current location, FT Stockton, Texas. We'll be on the road again in 15 minutes however."

He'd planned an entire 'rest day' but now realized that they would have to be on the road and in Galveston before dark.

"Stay put. We'll rendezvous with you in 10 hours or less. Sarah's driving. It might be less than that."

He heard Sarah's laughter in the background and realized just how much of an impression she'd made on him. Perhaps Penny was wrong about him not being able to 'get it up' with a normal girl. Perhaps it took a woman like Sarah to attract him.

"I will comply. Call when you are a few miles outside of town and I will provide a current location." He pushed END on his cell and tossed it back on the table.

Sheldon wrote a quick note on the pad beside the room phone and then dressed and left the room. He had to go shopping.

Penny had awakened to the sound of Sheldon speaking into his burner phone but lay there listening, trying to imagine who the caller was that would prompt his responses. It had been an exercise in acting class and she'd done quite well.

She quickly deduced that the caller was Cameron when Sheldon asked _'What did I think you were…'_ Of course, he would have thought she was a real person at first. Her soft voice would deceive anyone.

Penny started to get up and dress when he said something about leaving in 15 minutes but then stopped because his next comment suggested they weren't.

She listened while he dressed and then left the room. Penny cursed him loudly when she heard the sound of the truck door slamming and the engine starting. Was he leaving her here to be picked up by his strange friends?

Penny threw back the covers and did her business and pulled on the granny dress. She debated seeking out coffee but remembered his warning about safety and groaned. She needed a caffeine fix but knew better than to cross this Sheldon so she turned on the TV set and watched a bunch of idiots talk about things that wouldn't matter in a few years.

* * *

The burner phone trilled a few rings and then stopped before she realized what the noise was. It trilled again but stopped just as she found it and started to answer. There was no name in caller ID just 'unknown wireless'.

She tossed the phone onto Sheldon's bed and it started ringing again so she scooped it up and muttered, "Who is this?" in a tone that would suggest she'd been asleep.

"Where's Doc, Penny? Put him on the phone." It was Cameron. She almost hung up but figured the call might be important. "He's not here. I think he went out to pick up breakfast. I'll have him call you when he gets back, okay?"

The last thing she needed this early in the morning was a lovesick Terminator chick ranting in her ear.

"Listen, and don't interrupt. Cell phones are not secure. Don't let him leave your current location. I know he said he'd wait but you and I both know he can lie to someone when no one can see his face crinkle up with twitches and stuff. We think someone's after him and, since you're there, they'll be after you too."

"He never lies and he said he'd stay put." 'Her' Sheldon couldn't lie to save his own life…but could _this_ Sheldon?

"He's going to do something radical. He's gonna step on a butterfly and try and change future history. Find something to keep him busy. From what he told me about your sex life, taking him to bed would be the first thing that comes to mind."

Penny was embarrassed and shocked by what Cameron had said. _'Does she think I'm some kind of party girl or something that sleeps with anyone at the drop of a hat? What exactly did Sheldon tell her and in how much detail?'_

She heard voices in the background and assumed it was Sarah Connor trying to get the phone from Cameron.

"Penny, it's Sarah Connor. Look, Cameron's got a bug up her butt about Doc and some thing he's trying to do to make sure JD doesn't come. He said something to her that _turned her off!_ Keep him occupied and we'll be there as soon as we can."

'_I wish I knew how to turn the mechanical bitch off!' _

She stared at the phone when the voices got loud. They sounded like a family argument and she chuckled to herself when Sarah sounded just like her mother when she said, "No Cameron, you cannot talk to Penny. She's got things to do and you'll just confuse her with all this 'Omaha' crap."

"God, it's like preschool here. Honestly, Penny – Hey!"

Apparently Cameron had wrestled the phone away from her 'step mom' because…

"Omaha, do not believe everything you read in Doc's journal! It's his point of view and you know how he looks at things. There are some entries by me and future John put there mostly so he would have some different perspectives on things. Maybe you should read those first, Omaha."

"Damn it, my name is Penny, not Omaha. Omaha is some future chick with super powers or something that Sheldon – "

"She's _you! _And if you want to keep him alive, you'd better _be_ her and damn snappy. Don't let him down. He never let you down, never, no matter what."

Penny lost her temper and started into a full blown Nebraska rant when she realized she was talking to dead air.

"Well…crap!" She threw the phone onto Sheldon's already-made bed and plopped down at the small table and opened up his journal and scanned it for different handwritings and entries.

She flipped through the pages and quickly identified three handwritings that we're Sheldon's. Cameron's was easiest. Each letter was precisely etched, perfectly spaced and each line was probably exactly the same distance apart. _'Makes sense. She's a computer and this is just her print out.'_

Her own handwriting was raggedy in the first entry as if she was unused to holding a pen and writing. As the sentences went on, the script changed from jagged to her own but without the loopy 'L' and the 'I' dotted with circles as she wrote today.

She figured the last different handwriting was John Cameron's, 'future John', the General. His was cramped and there were quite a few misspelled words but there were also acronyms galore, and she figured she could always ask Sheldon what a 'Spyder' and a 'Cooter' were.

She read her first entry, surprised she'd missed it, and almost closed the notebook.

'_I am sorry I stabbed you. I thought you were a T model we hadn't run across and not you, I mean not Sheldon. They say you're from the past and if that is true, go back there. There is nothing and no one for you here. Your 'Penelope' is dead and gone. I'm not her. Not any more. I have someone else in my life now.'_

Of course she had no idea who the 'someone else' was but she felt sickened at what she'd become in the future. If there situations had been reversed, there would never have been 'someone else' for him, would there?

Penny's mind betrayed her. _'He had Cameron,' _it whispered, tearing at her heart, but common sense prevailed.

'_We weren't married in the future he found himself in. Not yet, anyways. He thought I despised him and that he could only be with 'another' machine. He's blameless…but 'Omaha' hurt him so badly. Poor Moon Pie. I hurt him in the past and now I've hurt him in the future.'_

* * *

Sheldon made a lot of individual purchases for Penny and he paid for each one at various stores with a $100 bill to get smaller bills. He had a plan and walking around with $100 bills made them stand out and be noticed and remembered.

He stopped and picked up breakfast and two large coffees for Penny. He wasn't hungry. He was too focused on what needed to be done and why the others were joining with them to feel hungry.

Sheldon bumped the door of the Avalanche shut with a hip and then went to the motel room door and knocked on it with his elbow, trying not to spill her breakfast and her damned coffee.

Penny pushed aside the blind and saw it was Sheldon with his hands full and she pulled open the door to let him in. He handed her the cardboard carrying tray.

"Here. Breakfast and coffee. Your life is now complete. Please eat while I bring in my purchases and afterwards, you can go over them to make sure I got the proper sizes. I don't think the styles matter much where we're going."

He carried in several bags, mostly small ones, and then two garment bags and a few large bags she saw were marked 'Stage', 'Macy's' and 'TJ Maxx' and piled them on his bed.

Sheldon sat down and looked at the stuff that cost almost $600 but he felt all were necessary to keep Penny happy and productive. He had no doubt about the proper sizes. He'd cleaned up her apartment on more than one occasion and noted sizes automatically. It was a byproduct of his ACD and his eidetic memory.

"Penny, when you're finished, please go through all that stuff and set aside anything that is the wrong size and I'll return it and get the proper size or you can when you're doing your part of our preparations."

Penny was wolfing down a second Egg McMuffin and just nodded. Hunger first, coffee second and then taking inventory a close third.

Finally finished, she looked at each item, smiling at some, looking at Sheldon with a 'what the fuck' look at others but overall both pleased and impressed with what he'd done.

"Y'know, the fact that you know all my sizes and preferences would be cute if it wasn't so damned creepy." She held up a hand to stop his explanation. She knew how he knew and secretly thought it was cute that he could apply his abilities to meet her needs.

"I'll get dressed and you can fill me in on what my part in this is." She started to pick out underwear, jeans and a top when he stopped her, aghast at her actions.

"Penny! These clothes have to be washed before wearing them. You have no idea where – "

"Sheldon, things are tying to kill us. We don't have time for this. Let me dress and then you fill me in, okay? I've done this all before and believe me I've never come down with Leprosy or anything else."

* * *

Penny walked into Walmart and stopped at the 'cheap digital watch' section and bought 40 digital watches of various makes and models, paying with a debit card that Sheldon had given her.

'_He thinks of everything except about really, really forgiving me and talking to me. It's almost like he's trying to change the future by fucking up his past.'_

In her opinion, he was well on the road to succeeding.


	14. Found!

A/N: The muse is back.

* * *

Chapter 14Tsunami

His bed had been remade and there were open watch cases strewn about in no specific order, something she knew he'd normally freak out about, but he just sat there with a knife prying the back off a watch in his hand and tossing the watch case onto the bed and setting the small circuit board and battery aside.

She'd watched him do this for the past two hours and finally said, "Sheldon, do you want me to tidy up the empty watches and throw them out? You've been at this for two hours and I think you need to take a break, sweetie."

She cringed mentally at 'sweetie' but figured it would be accepted as just her normal comments and she was right. He was ignoring her.

Sheldon finally opened the last watch and discarded its case and straightened up and twisted around. His back was obviously hurting from being in the same position – hunched over and straining to do detailed work.

He stood and stretched and then arched his back and Penny cringed at the 'cracking' sound of his spine.

"Sheldon, hold still." She reached over and started massaging his back and he stepped away from her and bent and began throwing the discarded cases into one of the empty bags from Penny's shopping expedition.

"I'm fine, Penny. Just a bit stiff. That was the easy part. The hard part is separating the batteries from the circuits. I could use someone with deft hands."

He looked at her and the implication was obvious: _she had the 'deft' hands._

What would have taken him hours took her only 30 minutes. "There ya go, Moon Pie. Now what?"

He sorted the batteries by voltage and then took the Cooper Pulse Pistol and twisted off the cap of the battery storage and emptied them out into the palm of his hand.

"Now I replace these batteries that all have different voltages with ones of the same but greater output. Penny, Up Time we had to scrounge these from the rubble. I was fortunate to find several that still were carrying any charge at all."

He selected four from a stack and slid them into the pistol's base and screwed on the cap.

* * *

Outside in the motel parking lot, three men in coveralls stepped out of a van and stood staring at one another and then, without any signal or conscious movement, began walking to the motel room door that Penny and Sheldon were in. The last of the three held an electronic device in his hands and swept it back and forth across the front of the couple's motel room window.

Call it dumb luck, Divine Intervention or simple coincidence.

When the door of the motel room crashed open and the first Triple-8 skin job stepped in, Sheldon had been testing the weight and heft of the new pistol. He was aiming at the checkout card mounted on the back of the closed door and the Triple-8's head was already in his sights.

He fired what he intended to be a brief pulse at the Triple-8 but he hadn't considered the effects of the new and more powerful batteries. The usual pencil-thin blue plasma bolt was broader and more powerful and fried the terminator's circuits instantly.

The noise was ungodly loud and seemed to settle into Sheldon and Penny's very bones. Penny had thrown herself on the floor between the beds and was screaming in terror.

Outside, the other two Triple-8s were likewise affected. The one standing behind the first attacker was fried and beginning to topple over and the last Triple-8, shielded by the motel's brick walls, staggered and fell to its knees, unable to follow its programming, caught in an endless rebooting cycle.

Sheldon laid the 'Improved Cooper Pulse Pistol' on the bed and knelt beside Penny and pulled her into his lap and put his hand across her mouth to stifle her screams.

"Penelope!" he said loudly, "Stop this screaming before you attract people who won't understand what's happening. We have to get out of here, Penny, now!" The buzzing in his ears was fading but he still used his 'outside voice' to talk with her.

She squeezed her eyes shut and clutched at his bony arms and began crying hysterically and Sheldon finally snapped.

He slapped her across the face – harder than he intended – but with unintended consequences. She stopped crying and reared back and head-butted him in the nose.

Luckily for him, the distance and her hysteria worked in his favor and it only bled and wasn't broken, but you wouldn't know that from her reaction.

"Oh God, Sheldon, you're bleeding!" she wailed, ignoring that she was the one who had injured him. She got to her feet and rushed into the bathroom and returned with a wet washcloth and wiped the blood off his face. "I'll go get some ice and you lie down and put an ice pack on your nose. I'm sorry I – "

"No time for that, Penny! Help me pull the bodies into the room before someone sees them and calls the cops. These Triple-8s look exactly like the 'cops' from the bungalow. Must be the same series and batch," he stated pedantically, unconsciously slipping into 'lecture mode'.

* * *

They dragged two of the 'bodies' into the bathroom but Penny refused to touch the one Triple-8 who was still 'alive' and in perpetual reboot mode.

"No! I can't do it. What if he wakes up and tries to kill us?" She stood in the ruined doorway and just shook her head.

Sheldon pulled out Cameron's combat knife and scalped the Triple-8 and then popped out its main core processing chip and crushed it with his foot. Penny ran to the bathroom, stepping over the 'bodies', and vomited up her Egg McMuffins and coffee. The sucking sound that the scalp made when separating from the metal skull casing hand proven to be her undoing.

Grunting with the effort and dripping blood on the sidewalk, he dragged the body inside the room and closed the door. It would no longer lock and the metal frame was severely warped and he could see daylight through the frame.

The cell phone rang and Sheldon listened as it went through the ring-disconnect series and finally he just scooped it up.

"Don't talk. Three Triple-8s paid us a surprise visit. They're down and out thanks to the _Improved_ Cooper Pulse Pistol. My companion is freaked out but otherwise we sustained no injuries. What is your ETA at this location?"

He could hear voices and then, "One hour and forty-five minutes. How did they – "

"Call again at city limits. We'll remain here until you get here but no longer than 120 minutes from now," he said, engaging the stopwatch feature on his new watch and hanging up.

Sheldon went out to the truck and tried to start it but its electronics were fried just like the 3 mechs. There were no other vehicles in the back lot except for a white panel van with California plates and he deduced, correctly, that it had been the mechs' mode of transportation.

The keys were in it and it started easily. He parked it beside the Avalanche and transferred the remaining bags and cases from the truck to the van.

"Penny, when you feel able, I need you to help me move the bodies out into our new van. The General and his people will be here within two hours or we'll leave without them. It's no longer safe for us here."

"How did they find us, Sheldon? How did they know – " She was getting worked up again and he interrupted her.

"I think they put something on the truck before they approached the bungalow. It's the logical answer and the only one we can assume without further proof. Now, how about a little help here, Penny?"

* * *

Sarah pulled into the motel parking lot and drove around to the back and parked next to the Avalanche.

"Made it with 6 minutes to spare. I guess that's the Triple-8s' van. We'll have to do some magic with the plates and then figure out how to dispose of the bodies. Let's go meet our weapons maker and get a briefing."

Cameron started to leave the Cherokee but Sarah stopped her. "Cameron, try and contain your PDAs with the Doc. Don't upset his girlfriend anymore than she already is."

Derek just snorted and got out and checked out the Avalanche. He got in, turned the key and – nothing.

"This one's fried. We'll either take the van or steal something new. Let's go check out the mech corpses. This should be very interesting."

The couple from Pasadena had already packed the van and they were ready to go. Sheldon explained what happened, offering his suspicion that the Avalanche had been tagged with a transponder in Glendale but Cameron had another thought.

"It's _her_, Doc. They've planted a transponder somewhere on her – or _in_ her. Omaha, we'll need to do a scan and – "

Penny turned pale and stood behind Sheldon. She'd blanched when the brunette terminator had said 'in her'.

"No one's going to hurt her, Doc, but we have to be sure. Tin Miss can do a cavity search and scan in the bathroom and then we can rule her out. Your pistol would have fried anything electronic on the Avalanche when you fried to three Triple-8s."

It was humiliating but necessary. Sarah patiently explained what might have been done to her and Penny was suddenly anxious to get it all over with. Cameron ran her hands over Penny's clothing but couldn't detect anything so Sarah explained the need to do it 'skin to skin'.

"Whatever it is, wherever it is, I want it out – now! I can't believe they put something inside of me to track Sheldon! What – what if it's _inside_ me? What then?"

Cameron smiled and tried to reassure Penny but both women could see that Penny was nearing what Sheldon would term 'terminal vapors'. Sarah nodded at Cameron and then distracted Penny.

With her head turned, she was an easy target and Cameron pressed against a nerve bundle in Penny's neck and the blonde collapsed, unconscious.

Ten minutes later and it was out and flushed down the commode. Penny was naturally upset both at how they'd knocked her out and at what had been done to her, _down there_. Cameron explained that the transponder was now on a journey through the town's sewage system and anyone tracking them would have a nasty surprise waiting for them.

* * *

Sarah walked into the main bedroom and explained what they'd found and what they'd done with it.

"They probably stuffed it up in there when they first took her. She's clean now but really upset. She couldn't have known about it, Doc, so cut her some slack, okay? She'd not to blame."

"Of course she's not to blame. Is she okay? There was no permanent damage done, was there?" said Sheldon. He couldn't live with himself if she'd been irreparably harmed as a result of her association with him here in Down Time.

"She's fine. A little sore maybe but Cameron's an expert at removing such things and because she's your girlfriend, she was extra gentle."

Cameron noted that he didn't object to the 'girlfriend' comment and John once again wondered if she had feelings for the talented physicist but remembered about his Up Time self sending the Doc back without any support.

_'That's not me! I'll never be like that Up Time,'_ ignoring the evidence that he was, indeed, _like that._

* * *

John and Derek drove the van and Sheldon and Penny sat in the back seat of the Jeep. Penny's hand had crept into his and held it tightly until she finally dozed off only to be awakened when the Jeep pulled off the interstate.

"What's going on, Sheldon?" She still held his hand but was lying across the seat, her head in his lap.

"The General, Cameron and Derek are burying the mech bodies. It won't take long and soon we'll be at my grandmother's and then we're all taking a trip to 2008."

"What? That's impossible, Shel – oh, yeah, I forgot. You invented time travel. Why back then?"

"I didn't invent time travel, Penny. I simply developed a device that opened up rifts in time in a controlled fashion. I've done it 44 times, Penny, and I can assure you it doesn't hurt a bit."

"You'll hold my hand and not let me get lost or anything, won't you, Moon Pie?"

"If that's what you want, Penny, then of course. Although – "

He was interrupted when Sarah and Cameron returned. Cameron saw that Penny was awake and said, "There was no damage done, Penny. You might feel a little discomfort but it will pass quickly."

Penny started to sit up but Sheldon stopped her. "Penny, you've been through a terrible ordeal. Sleep while you can."

Cameron looked back at the Doc and Om – no, Penny, here and now – and smiled at him. Sheldon smiled back and then closed his eyes and pretended to sleep. He didn't want to have the discussion that Cameron was pushing for.

He would keep Penny at arms' length until things calmed down and he could return her to Pasadena and her old life.

* * *

Penny was instantly awake when she felt Sheldon's body suddenly tense and then begin to tremble violently. She sat up and saw that it was dark and that Cameron was driving while Sarah slept in the front seat.

"He's having a dream about Up-Time. He'll be all right though. Just hold on to him so he knows you're there. Maybe whisper that you're with him and he's not alone. It helps, Penny."

"How do you know about his dreams? Is it some Terminator skill you have?"

"No. I just know how he is when he dreams. You wouldn't comfort him so I did. He pushed and push Up Time and it took a toll on him."

Penny snorted but didn't say anything. She figured that Cameron was referring to Omaha and not her.

'_I won't let him go through this alone. He's my best friend and I'll be there for him. It's what friends do, right?'_

A few hours later and Penny woke him up gently. She'd maneuvered him around so that his head was in her lap and he could stretch out a bit.

"Hey, sweetie, Cameron says we're at your Meemaw's place. You need to wake up, Shel."


	15. Protecing Those You Love

A/N: This chapter has been broken into several once I realized how damned long it was. If you few remaining brave souls read only the dialogue you'll miss half the story. This part is almost totally Sheldon/Cameron.

But first a quote I stumbled on in going through some old hand-written notes from my 'fried computer' days.

* * *

**Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.- George Orwell**

* * *

Chapter 15 Tsunami

"Cameron, turn left right before the big cottonwood and be careful, the road's hardly ever used unless someone's tenant farming and she hasn't allowed anyone to do it in years."

Cameron identified the tree and saw the dirt road, hardly a road, more like a track, and drove skillfully along it for 4.3 miles until it abruptly turned to the right and ended immediately in front of a small ranch house.

"Okay, just let me turn on the power at the box and open it up and get some lights on while you all unload the vehicles."

His Texas twang made it sound like ve-_HICK_-les and Penny giggled despite the glare he sent her way. The Moon Pie was home and the twang seeped into his speech despite his best efforts.

Cameron switched her optics to infrared and spotted a small pack of coyotes near the tree line but no other signs of humans or larger animals. This was the first time she'd been on a farm and was disappointed, if she could identify the strange thrummings in her synapses. Where were all the cows and horses and chickens? There was nothing growing and everything was just dirt.

The lights came on and Sheldon opened the front door and came out to help carry their packs, supplies and equipment into the house. He glanced at Cameron who was slowly rotating around on one foot, scanning and he chuckled.

"Other than a few rodents or coyotes, all the cattle are on the west side of the property and out of sight. No doubt that's why you're using infrared, Cameron."

"How – how did you know, Doc?" It wasn't something obvious but then he'd always surprised her with his ability to ascertain her operational tactics.

"It's what you always do when in a new environment. Up-Time or Down-Time, your protocols remain unchanged." He was disgustingly smug about it and she suddenly wanted to knock him on his ass…

Penny stood slightly behind him, inhaling the smell she'd grown up with and had taken for granted – clean dirt, fresh air, a slight hint of cow manure and a starry sky the likes of which you never saw in the city.

He could feel her. It was something new. He wondered if it was because his body had sensed her pheromones or because he felt attuned to her. He blew it off as inconsequential but spoke to her without looking.

"It must remind you of home, Penny." He didn't expect an answer and he didn't get one. He knew exactly what she was thinking and feeling because he was feeling the same way. It was home and safety.

"Okay, we're clear but that doesn't mean things will stay that way. We need to hide the vehicles and get inside."

"Cameron, there's a large pole barn behind the house. It can't be seen from the road. Put them there after we unload."

* * *

The ranch house consisted of 4 bedrooms, a kitchen/dining room and a large living room with old ratty furniture left over from the previous tenants. The whole place had been scrubbed top-to-bottom and Sheldon didn't have to wonder just who did it – Meemaw.

There were clean linens on the beds and the old refrigerator was well stocked, saving Sheldon from driving into town and risking being recognized. He wanted no one to know he was here. There was safety in anonymity.

"Decide who sleeps where. I slept in the Jeep on the way here and I know the rest of you are exhausted. I have to check-in with my grandmother and let her know we're here. Don't wait up for me."

* * *

Sarah was brewing coffee and Derek and John were going over the guard rotation. Penny was already half asleep and stumbled her way down the narrow hall to the first bedroom she came to and collapsed on the bed.

It was nearly 2 miles to Meemaw's place so Sheldon set a mean pace. He wanted to thank her for her efforts and also, if he admitted it to himself, just see her and hug her and feel like a little kid, if only for a short time.

Cameron hung back 20 yards or so, not worrying about losing him in the dark. She periodically switched from night vision to infrared to ensure he was still in front of her and that they were the only two out for a moonlight stroll.

A coyote howled to the left and another answered it, a lot closer. This distracted Cameron for a second and when she glanced back, he was gone.

Sheldon knew he was being followed. The hair on his neck was standing up and his Papaw had always said that the Coopers were possessed of incredible 'woodsy skills' but his Meemaw had just whispered that it was 'Second Sight' to the young Sheldon.

As he walked, he lengthened his stride and bent over at the waist and when he came to the deep cement irrigation culvert, he dropped down into it and stretched out along its length. He and Missy had played hide-and-seek and she'd never found him.

Now he was playing hide-and-seek with a Terminator and losing might mean more than the loss of 'bragging rights'.

Cam switched her oculars to infrared and followed his cooling footsteps until the residual heat faded and even her most sensitive settings failed to detect them.

She stopped and put herself into Sheldon's mindset and almost laughed out loud. The minute he got outside he became 'Doc' from Up Time and behaved appropriately.

She should have simply announced her intention to walk with him and not been so sneaky. He was wired and nervous and was probably planning on ambushing her with that horrible pistol of his.

He didn't know who to trust and so everyone was a possible assassin, even her. She approved of his behavior and wished John had half the sense Doc had.

She hopped over the irrigation ditch and noted that there was still water in it from the rainstorm they'd driven through even though the track to the house had been dry. She stopped and scanned the immediate area hoping to see some movement or something because she had no idea where he was headed.

She didn't hear him approach. He made no noise because he'd removed his boots. She heard a 'click' and then involuntarily shut down.

* * *

Her reboot brought her to immediate awareness and she took in her surroundings – a bedroom of some sort – and her attire – an old button-up-the-front nightgown under which she was quite naked.

Now she was confused until she heard his voice in the hallway talking with someone and she allowed her defenses to ease somewhat. Doc wouldn't hurt her. She increased her audio sensors and eavesdropped shamelessly.

"Shellybean, you can't be serious! That sweet young thing in there is as human as you or me. Honestly, those science fiction movies you watch have rattled any good sense you may have had right out of your head."

"Meemaw, her name is Cameron and she's a synthetic person, not a human being, although for all intents and purposes, she's as human as you or I. She's my dearest friend and I owe her my life many times over. I want this for her. Just for a few days, Meemaw, and then I'll come fetch her. Please?"

"Of course she can stay, Shelly, but why? Is she ill? In trouble? Oh, my, Sheldon Lee Cooper, you haven't put the girl in the 'family way' have you?"

"Good Lord, NO! I love her, but not like that. Besides, she's in love with the Gen – I mean with a young man named John. I have my own 'girl' if you will, and I'll bring her to meet you. Her name is Penny and she's an undiscovered actress of great beauty."

"Isn't she the one who called me because you were mean and hung her unmentionables from the telephone wire? Oh, Shelly, I knew you liked her from that episode but now you love her? Oh, great-grand children! Your mother won't like that one bit…" There was laughter but Cameron hadn't understood the references or context just that it was more human humor.

"So let me get this straight. You want me to let her experience farm and ranch life just like everyday things? You want her to feel 'normal'? How does she feel now, if not normal?"

"She's slowly becoming more and more human, Meemaw, and I want her exposed to as many varied human experiences as possible. Just don't ask questions you aren't ready to have answered. She's like me. She cannot lie nor can she recognize sarcasm or humor unless it's very blatant."

"Well, fine. Lookie here, Moon Pie, you and your other friends come down for supper tomorrow night so I can meet these folks you are helping out. And bring the little girlfriend so's I can meet her."

Sheldon hugged his grandmother goodnight and then stepped into Missy's old room and stared. The light from hallway betrayed a flicker of one eyelid but other than that, she looked to be asleep.

"You're awake, Cameron. You should remember to breathe, especially around my Meemaw. She knows you're a synthetic person so don't think you have to be guarded. Just remember to breathe, otherwise she might be uncomfortable around you."

"Could never fool you, Doc. Where am I? Why am I wearing this garment and where are my clothes?"

"This is where I grew up, Cam. You're wearing that nightgown because I dropped you in a puddle by accident not having your night vision. It was an accident, even though you deserved punishment for following me without my knowledge or permission. Our clothing is in the dryer and I'll be returning to the ranch house when they're dry."

"How did you do it?" She meant escaping her detection.

"Well, I unbuttoned your shirt, removed your jeans and underwear and socks and then slipped one of Missy's nighties on you for modesty's sake."

"Doc, I meant how did you slip past my surveillance? I assumed you were the one to undress me unless that 'Meemaw' person did it. I'm rather glad you did though. Does my form please you?"

"Cameron, the salacious nature of your inquiry serves no purpose. Yes, I found your form pleasing. John is a lucky man. As for the surveillance – I simply used your reliance on technology to defeat you, just as we will defeat SkyNet in the Up-Time even if we cannot stop JD from occurring."

"You sent me into a continuous loop, Doc, with your question. I found myself unable to do anything but shutdown. I had never considered 'why' John sent us back to this time if Time were immutable."

"I came back because I had no choice. He sent you back because you'd been here in his memory so in that respect, Time _is_ immutable."

"And yet both you and Oma – excuse me, Penny, are trying to undo the future by avoiding marriage. Now who's stepping on butterflies to try and change the Future?"

"Cameron, execute subroutine Cooper 27 Alpha. Sweet dreams."

Cameron was startled when she involuntarily took a deep breath and then went to 'sleep' and off-line until exactly 5:30am.

Sheldon looked down fondly at her, bent over and placed a kiss on her forehead and walked out, leaving the door open just enough to allow light from the hallway to illuminate the room.

* * *

He left his grandmother's house and jumped on a 4-wheeler and drove across the empty fields to the ranch house.

It was nearly 3am when he returned but everyone was awake. Derek stopped him with a challenge about 20 yards from the ranch house.

"Stop! This is a restricted area. State your business and be gone!"

"Derek, take one of those chill pills Penny goes on about and relax. Cameron did a full sweep and believe me, no one can sneak up on us here. The coyotes will alert us by baying provided we're not all asleep, just as they did when we arrived."

"Where is she, anyhow? John's fit to be tied that you both took a moonlight stroll. He's jealous, Doc, and he's surly and very cranky. The boy needs a nap and his Tin Miss isn't here to tuck him in and take care of his needs." The last was said in derision and Sheldon bristled.

"Cameron's safe with my grandmother. Her presence here poses a threat to her well being. Staying with my Meemaw accomplishes two things. One: she can keep watch out for any strangers looking for me. Two: she can see how normal humans live and work. My grandmother will see to her needs and work her ass off."

"John's not gonna like that, Doc. He's – "

"I don't care whether he does or not. I have other reasons for her absence and I'll explain them when we're all awake and rested."

"I think they're all up now. The girlfriend of yours is getting more like Omaha by the day. Swears like a sailor and wanted us to go find you and 'that hussy' before you did something stupid. Why are you letting her think you and Cameron are screwing around, Doc?"

"Let's go inside then. I could use a hot beverage and I'll explain my reasoning then. Join us. No sense walking around outside when there's no need. You admire Penny, don't you, Derek?"

"Whoa, Doc. Stop right there. She's your girlfriend and I don't poach another man's herd."

"But you do, Derek, and you're more the kind of man she's attracted to than I am. I – I don't have feelings for women. She'll be the first to tell you that I'm more comfortable around computers than people. You should talk to her, Derek."

"You devious son of a bitch! You're trying to change the future for you and Penny by running her off and making her think you and Cameron are swapping fluids. That's the dumbest thing – "

"Just be friends, Derek. I'm sure things will advance on their own. And for the record, Cameron and I are in no way engaging in anything like courtship or coitus. She's John's girlfriend."

* * *

Penny and John both demanded answers to questions.

"Where have you been and where's Cameron?" asked Penny with emphasis on 'Cameron' with a snarky tone of voice.

"Where's Cameron? What have you two been up to?" demanded John.

"I walked over to my grandmother's to let her know we'd arrived. We're invited to dinner tomorrow night. Cameron is staying with my Meemaw for some much-needed acclimatization to how things work in a rural society. All's she seen is the worst of humanity. This will enable her to expand her worldview."

"Doc, that's bullshit! You don't order her around. She needs to be here – "

"No, General, she doesn't. Being 'here' is the last place she needs to be unless you want her turned into a candidate for the burn pit. And I didn't request her presence. She followed me and given her recent chip malfunctions I found it necessary to deactivate her. She's fine, General, but confused and I can no longer trust her."

"Wait! Why isn't this place safe for her?" Sarah hadn't said anything up to now but appeared embarrassed by her son's behavior and attitude.

"We'll be assembling the Improved Cooper Pulse Pistol and since none of you except Penny are particularly adept at working in an assembly environment, accidental discharges, overloads and other failures might cause harm to her and I cannot allow that."

"YOU can't allow – " John fumed and shouted at Sheldon.

"Yes, General, I cannot allow harm to befall her as a result of one of you _fucking up a simple assembly process! _ I owe her my life. I will not put hers at risk."

"Sheldon, is it really that dangerous to assemble these pistols of yours? Can they hurt us?" Penny wasn't surprised at Sheldon's outburst. She knew from assembling Penny Blossoms just how easy it was to make a mistake.

"Not humans, no. But Cameron's a T-1000 and even the slightest exposure to an EMP of even a low yield could prove disruptive or fatal. I designed these to be pinpoint accurate and yet with fresher batteries of the same voltage, the beam was much broader than before. A discharge in an uncontrolled environment would be spherical."

"Okay, Doc, I see your point. John, honey, it's in her best interests to be clear of this place until we know what we're doing. Doc's right. A mistake could be fatal. Do you want to risk Cameron's life just to have her near you?" Sarah was suddenly the voice of reason.

John looked chagrined and mumbled 'No' to the floor but when he looked up at Sheldon, there was suspicion in his eyes.

'_Wait a minute. If all this is history and I know about it Up Time, I wouldn't have sent Cooper back just to create problems. I'd have kept him close and used his talents against SkyNet. Something isn't right about all this…'_


	16. Fateful Decisions

Chapter 16 Tsnami Aftermath

_**A/N: It's been a while but I've been involved in work projects as well as another fic here so rather than demand you play catch-up, I'll throw you a synopsis bone:**_

_**After a run-in with Triple-8s, the group split up with Sheldon and Penny heading to his Meemaw's place in Texas while the others wandered around like the Israelites in the desert.**_

_**Several mechs have tracked Sheldon and Penny to a motel outside a small west Texas town and by chance Sheldon takes them all out with an Improved Cooper Pulse Pistol (meaning he got new fully charged batteries).**_

_**Sarah's group makes contact and meets up with them in the motel. Sheldon and Penny have each independently decided that the only way to change the future and forestall Judgment Day is to mess with the present to save the future. Each turns away from the other, thinking it's the right thing to do.**_

_**After hooking up, the group drives to Sheldon's Meemaw's place and settles in to a tenant farm house while Sheldon goes to see his grandmother. Cameron follows him and Sheldon, fearing new orders to terminate him, plays a deadly game of hide-and-seek and zaps Cameron with a stun gun.**_

_**She wakes up in Sheldon's bed (alone) and he puts her to sleep with an imbedded voice command.**_

_**John Conner is jealous and makes demands and Sheldon tells him that Cameron is safe with his grandmother because they would kill her with a fat-fingered accidental discharge of a pistol during assembly.**_

_**Now you're up to date.**_

* * *

Cameron's systems performed a quick diagnostic and then continued to reboot. Her eyes opened and she ran her own systems check, not sure just what other 'improvements' Doc had made to her chip. She couldn't even find the coding for his Cooper 27 Alpha involuntary sleep command.

'_Doc said it was a subroutine…I'll set up a search in those areas. When I get my hands on him…'_

Cameron had no real awareness that she was 'talking to herself' and would hand been shaken to be informed that she did. Synthetics did not talk to themselves. She arose, found her clothing neatly folded on a chair beside her bed with a note lying on top.

_Cameron, these are clean and you should dress immediately upon coming back on-line. There are hairbrushes and other feminine products in the bathroom immediately down the hall to your right. Do not attempt to return to the farmhouse._

_I will explain everything in due course but in the meantime, enjoy your immersion in ranch life. My Meemaw is aware of your true nature but please, do not freak her out! She is old and despite her apparent strength, her health is failing. Humans are not built as sturdily as you are, a basic failure in design through evolutionary mishaps._

_Sheldon L. Cooper PhD_

She smiled to herself, uncertain why she would do such a thing when it wasn't necessary for her mission. She wasn't presently among humans and found her action strange.

Cameron dressed quickly and then walked to the bathroom and brushed out her long hair before putting it up into a ponytail using one of the elastic bands left conveniently for her use.

_How does he so accurately anticipate my needs? And why can't I be with him and the others at the tenant farmhouse? Well, I have my mission to perform and he cannot override my need to protect – _

Her optics flickered before displaying a mission update on her HUD.

**[Remain with the human woman, Meemaw, and observe, assimilate and record activities] **

**[Maintain high levels of awareness of strangers]**

**[If the woman does not appear to recognize them or if they display any aggression, consider them a threat and eliminate them]**

'_Holy crap – he's gained access to my main core! I'm going to have to have a long talk with one each Sheldon Lee Cooper, PhD!'_

She walked into what she assumed was the kitchen and her olfactory sensors were overwhelmed with smells associated with food prepared to perfection per her database.

"Well, look at you!" She whirled around, startled, but assumed a shy smile, surprised that she hadn't sensed the woman's presence.

"Good morning. Doc – I mean, Sheldon, said I was to spend a few days here. I hope I won't be in the way. I've never been on a farm before and I'm not sure just how I can help."

"Well, my Moon Pie sure does have a raft of ladies in his life now, doesn't he? You can help by eating breakfast and then I'll give you the grand tour of the ranch. Would you like tea or coffee?"

After cleaning her plate and drinking a second cup of coffee, she got up and rinsed the dishes and then started to wash them. Her readings had taught her that a guest in a human home was supposed to clean up after themselves.

"Well, honey, your momma sure did teach you right. You wash, I'll dry and while we're doing that, you can answer a few questions about how you came to know my grandson – and all the gossip about him and his ladylove. His momma and I had about given up hope of ever seeing a Sheldon Lee Cooper junior."

The old woman looked at Cameron and palmed her cheek. "You have a good soul, Cameron, regardless of being a 'synthetic being' as my grandson claims. I can see it in your eyes. Yep, a good soul but an old one too. You've seen your share of life, haven't you, Lemon Drop?"

Cameron was taken aback at Meemaw's words. She didn't have a soul, did she? She knew she was changing, evolving far beyond SkyNet's intent, so did that mean she might have a soul? And how was she a 'Lemon Drop'?

Sheldon's grandmother should have been a Terminator interrogator. She asked questions in such a way that you answered fully and completely without realizing it. Cameron found out the hard way that trying to deflect the small human was pointless. She simply smiled and nodded and within a few sentences had the information she wanted.

"Meemaw, you are a skilled interrogator. Where did you perfect such skills? Are all farm women like you – relentless in their pursuit of information?"

"Oh, Lemon Drop, I've been able to talk the balls off a bull since I was just a young 'un. And having twin grandchildren who fought and scrapped incessantly, I got to hone those skills finding out who did what to who. Now – "

"Whom. 'Who did what to whom', Meemaw."

"Well, thank you, dear, but don't interrupt. It's impolite and I expect you to mind your manners, child. Now, as I was saying," and she shot Cameron a glare that was exactly like Doc's when he was interrupted, "Shellybean invented a 'temporal displacement device' that lets him go back and forth through time?"

"Yes, Meemaw. He has. It is much improved over other means of temporal displacement. Much easier. For one thing, I didn't arrive here naked and without weapons, identification or money."

"Well, come along, Lemon Drop, I have something to show you. Shelly always was one to tinker and some of the things he built – Lord have mercy but the boy has a knack for destruction."

They walked out to a storage shed beside the barn but Meemaw had forgotten where the padlock key was hidden.

"I shall open it, Meemaw. One moment, please." She grabbed the old Yale lock and twisted it and gave a sharp tug and it came apart.

"Well, Shelly sure has met his match in you, Lemon Drop. Now if you'll pull open the doors for me, I'll show you something that I should have probably taken apart years ago but never got around to. Maybe you can make use of it in the future." Cameron's lips twitched at the double meaning. This old human was sharp as a tack.

Inside was a crudely built rail gun similar to those used by SkyNet's drones. Yes, it was crude but –

"He was 10 when he built this. He built a laser thingy first but his Papaw made him take it apart after he burned a hole clean through the barn and roasted two of Papaw's prized Brangus steers out on the range. Like I said, the boy's got a knack for destruction."

Cameron had quickly noted the construction of the rail gun and saw that the power supply was simply a bunch of dry cell batteries now rusted and corroded and useless. Still, it was a weapon and Cameron was always in search of additional arms for her –

A rustling along the wooden sides of the storage shed caught her attention and then a series of hollow noises and –

The rattlesnake recoiled after striking Cameron's left calf, probably injured after its fangs pierced her synthetic dermal layer and then encountered the coltran structure underneath. She grabbed it and crushed its head between her fingers and threw it out of the shed.

"Oh, Lord, Cameron, that rattler got you good. We have to get you back to the house and then to the ER. This ain't good. It's a big 'un and –

"Excuse me, Meemaw, but it won't affect me as it does humans. I'm synthetic, remember?" she said softly, not wanting to upset the woman any more than she already was.

Meemaw was on her knees rolling up Cameron's jeans and tut-tutting such foolishness.

He got you good, darlin' and we need to – "

Cameron gently pulled the old woman's hands away from her calf and produced a wicked combat knife from her other boot. She quickly excised the damaged tissue from her calf and inadvertently exposed her internal musculature.

"Oh, Lord have mercy! You and Shellybean weren't funnin' me one bit. Does it hurt, Lemon Drop? I mean you cut a sizeable chunk out of your calf. Can you walk on it?"

"Yes. I don't feel pain as you do. It will heal itself within 24 hours, especially after I ingested such mass quantities of protein and carbohydrates at breakfast. Now, tell me about this 'laser thingy' that Doc built as a child. You are correct, Meemaw, he definitely does have a knack for destruction."

* * *

Tenant Farmhouse

Penny was by far the most adept at assembling the circuitry and battery connections for the pulse pistol. She spent the first two hours explaining and supervising how to assemble the electonics just as Sheldon had taken 10 minutes to explain it to her.

After he considered the limited availability of components, Sheldon modified the design so that it resembled a railroad flare to eliminate the handgrip. It might not be exactly a 'pistol' but considering the wider cone of plasma, pinpoint accuracy wasn't really a concern. All one had to do was point it at an adversary and click the firing stud and physics did the rest.

He knew of several local outlets that sold wooden and composite gunstocks so he sent Sarah and Penny off to purchase several from various outlets. He planned on making a much more powerful pulse rifle to be employed as an Up-time sniper rifle for the Resistance.

They weren't gone long and when they returned, they brought lunch from a fast food outlet that Sheldon remembered as always being on the county health inspector's 'Hell, no" list.

"Here ya go, Moon Pie, a barbeque bacon cheese burger with all the stuff on the side and some fries. I watched them make it, sweetie, and it was done right and proper."

* * *

"So, Doc, tell me again why Cameron's at your grandmother's? Is it really because you're afraid of an accidental discharge?" Sarah cornered Sheldon when they took a lunch and cigarette break. He insisted that smokers 'do it outside and police up your butts' and he was boiling water for tea.

"Of course. She is an important member of our team and the General needs her undamaged now and in the future."

"Is that the _only_ reason? C'mon, I'm an adult, Doc, and your missus probably doesn't appreciate the attention Tin Miss pays you and you just want some peace, right?"

"Wrong – on several counts. 1 – She is not my missus and never will be. I'll find someplace to stash her so JD doesn't affect her like it did in the future-past. 2 – Cameron and I are friends. She and the general were the only two to really accept me and my hare-brained ideas and the proof is all around you. And 3 – SkyNet knows who I am and has probably ferreted out my history so while this location is secure, my grandmother's house isn't – thus Cameron's assignment to learn about human farm and ranch life – and to be on guard for infiltrators."

Sarah stared at him for what seemed like the longest time before shrugging her shoulders and smirking at him. "Well, I'd say that was a fair mixture of truth and bullshit but if that's your story – "

"And I'm stickin' to it." His Texas twang colored his voice despite his attempts to hide his origins while in academia.

* * *

Penny had walked into the large country kitchen to get ketchup for their fries and heard his comments. Once Sarah walked off in a huff, she walked up behind him and said, "You're not 'stashing' me anywhere, Sheldon Cooper. I can damned well take care of myself and besides, you and everyone else knows that 'Omaha' is your Up-time widow and that we were together on JD, so give it a rest. Tin Lizzie, Derek and you are all living proof that all this is a waste of fucking time, Sheldon."

He turned to face her, tea cup in hand, and almost dropped it when he saw the look of anguish on her face.

"We can still win the war, Penny, so this is hardly a waste of time. You saw how effective the pistol is against a 'skin job' and a mech. This will change the course of the war and…"

It was too much. Despite her determination not to marry him and thus save him from radiation poisoning by changing the future, she couldn't deny how she felt for him any longer and certainly not to him.

"I love you and you obviously love me so I propose that we live each day as it comes, having a good ol' time until the nukes pop and after than, we'll play it by ear."

She reached up and put her arms around his neck and nuzzled his neck with her nose. "Please, Sheldon, let's not waste time on pipe dreams. We don't know which day might be our last…please, baby."

His traitorous hands found her hips and he held her a few inches away from him. "Penny, we can still change the future, alter the timeline, change future history. I think giving in to our feelings is counterproductive to the greater whole, and this is hardly the time or place to – "

"Shut up, Moon Pie, and kiss me."

She pulled him down and gently but firmly pressed her lips to his. His were warm and soft and slightly open as if to say something so she figured 'what the fuck' and snaked her tongue between them and fenced with his tongue.

They broke for air and Sheldon's knees almost gave out, he was shaking badly, and Penny wasn't in much better shape.

"We need to get a grip on our emotions and finish the job we came here to do. We'll have time – "

"Really? Because from what I've heard our time on this earth is limited because some super computer with delusions of grandeur thinks we're some kind of infestation and plans to drop nukes on us. Tonight, after I get to meet the other most important woman in your life, baby, you're all mine to do with as I please, and please you I most certainly will."

Derek walked into the kitchen to throw away the lunch trash and started to laugh. "Way to go, Doc. About time you figured things out. Boy, is CyberBarbie gonna be pissed she missed this."

Penny was blushing and Sheldon just shook his head. Things were going to get complicated soon, hell, _now_, and he needed to add some additional toys to the Resistance's toy box. Some really big toys.

"Penny, pay them no mind. Tonight you're meeting my Meemaw and please remember that she's old and frail and so dial down the hugs, please?"

They completed 28 tube pistols before Sheldon called a halt to production and told them they had dinner plans and to get as clean as possible and meet him in front in 30 minutes.


	17. Coming to Terms of Endearment

Chapter 17 Tsunami Aftermath

* * *

Penny wore a sundress that Sheldon had bought for her back in Ft. Stockton. It was a little less revealing than she normally wore but considering she was meeting Meemaw, it was entirely appropriate. She brushed her hair until it glowed and wreathed her face in curls. She put on lip gloss but nothing else. She wanted to make a good impression tonight.

Sheldon blinked a few times and Penny took it as a good sign since he also was swallowing a lot and his normal smirk was fighting a losing battle with a shy smile.

Derek complimented her in a homey sort of way saying simply that 'if I knew that Omaha looked like that under all the dirt and grime Up-Time, I would have paid more attention to her'. The dark look Sheldon shot him made her stomach flip-flop and then flip-flop again when Derek looked down at the ground and muttered, "Sorry, Doc. I know she's taken."

John and Sarah had put on the best clothes they had, meaning they were clean but not inappropriate and Sarah drove the jeep down to the highway and then the mile or so to the turn off to Meemaw's place.

* * *

Cameron had heard the signature whine of the Jeep's transmission and stood out on the porch to greet them. She was wearing jeans because her calf was still healing and she didn't want to draw attention to herself. Cameron knew that Doc would make a big deal out of it, demanding to see and treat it, while John wouldn't know exactly what to do and she didn't want him to appear weak among his future subordinates.

Penny got out of the Jeep first and Cameron felt a momentary flutter in her operating system. She initiated a diagnostic and waited patiently for the rest of her friends _(Yes, they were her friends, even Sarah who disapproved of her relationship with her son and Penny who disapproved of her on principal and because of Doc's attentiveness)._

Meemaw walked out onto the porch, drying her hands on an apron and then dashed to her grandson and leaped up into his arms, a feat that surprised all of them. _This lady is frail?_

Introductions were made and Meemaw squired them all into the house. Sheldon smiled like he'd just won the lottery, the War, and the Nobel Prize.

"Fried chicken and biscuits and mashed potatoes and – " His voice failed him as he smelled all the wonderful smells he associated with his happiest childhood memories.

"Yes, Moon Pie, all of your favorites and for dessert – "

"Peach Cobbler!" said Sheldon, Penny and Meemaw all together making the others smile. _'So this is the human family in a happy setting…interesting. I must record this for later analysis. Doc is so boyishly handsome when he smiles at Meemaw but looked adorable when he shyly introduced Penny.'_

'_Adorable' _and '_boyishly handsome' _were not part of her normal descriptive vocabulary but she was too busy greeting John with an embrace and a kiss to notice.

"Missed you, Cam."

"And I, you, John. It has been 11 hours, 27 minutes and 41 seconds since I last saw you." She felt strangely at ease in an environment she's only studied from old videos and DVDs to learn how to blend in. Perhaps she'd learned more than she knew. Again, tabled for later analysis. For now, holding his hand, monitoring his vitals and just being in his company was occupying all her attention.

* * *

Apt 4A  
2311 Los Robles  
Pasadena, CA

It was after 1am and Howard and Leonard had just returned from a night of fruitless flirtations at the local watering hole. Leonard had needed a wingman and Raj was down with the flu. Howard had a fiance but 'bros befo' ho's' was invoked by Leonard and so he had sat there watching as Leonard crashed and burned eight or nine times.

"I can't believe Sheldon and Penny have just disappeared without leaving a note or anything!" Leonard was aggravated with his room mate and with his former 2-time girlfriend.

"Maybe he's taken her up to the mother ship, Leonard, and she's currently doing the nasty with half the crew." Howard loved playing to Leonard's weaknesses and '_Shenny_' was a huge one.

"Howard, if you can't be serious about this, just – just don't talk at all." He would have said more but his rant was interrupted by Howard's cell phone. Howard looked at the caller ID information and gulped and turned pale.

"I have to take this. I'll be right back and we'll continue on with _Shenny_ which I have to admit is way easier on the tongue and stomach than _'Plenard'._" The name of the caller was simply _Go to hallway _and the calling phone number was his social security number.

* * *

"This is Howard Wolowitz." His voice cracked on the second syllable of his last name. He was afraid of what might come next. All his conspiracy theories and fears came into play and he suddenly had to urinate so badly…

"Howard, Dr. Sheldon Cooper here. I will pay you $5,000 for two days of your time. You must come immediately and without hesitation. You should bring outdoor and work clothes for several days and, knowing how your paranoia is running amok at this time, you may bring Bernadette after telling her only that she will be in for a fascinating experience and that Penny, my Meemaw and Sarah will provide chaperone duties. Check your email for directions. You must leave immediately and tell no one about this conversation if you value your life."

"Five thousand dollars? In US currency not 'Sheldon Bucks' or some other non-negotiable instrument?"

"Very well, $7,000 but that is my final offer."

"I'll be waiting for your email." He hung up the phone and immediately called his fiance.

"Bernadette, sweetie, honey, love of my life, pack a bag. We're going to get enough money to get married and have enough left over to get a good start on our life together. I'll pick you up in an hour." He listened and then broke into a huge smile and said, "Yes, it's legal and yes, it means we won't have to live with my mother. I love you, too."

He ran down the steps to his car, his mind already deciding what to take and what questions to ask Sheldon Cooper when he got wherever the hell the email directed him to go. Two days…$7,000. He and Bernadette together. Who cared what he had to do. He trusted Sheldon Cooper more than any one he could name.

* * *

Meemaw's Place

"You are certain this Howard Wolowitz will be able to speed up production of these Mech Destroyers as well as develop a way of protecting renegade Terminators such as myself? You are certain, Doc?"

"I'd bet my life on Howard. He's a brilliant engineer even if he only has a Master's Degree."

The topic came up around the dinner table as they all gorged themselves on peach cobbler and most of them drank Meemaw's elderberry wine that had aged in the fruit cellar since his Papaw had passed away.

_"How can we improve our daily production of 'tubes'? We need hundreds of them, not just 20 or so a day."_

_"We need an engineer who can streamline our processes and perhaps simplify things. I know just such a man but…he's expensive."_

_Sheldon looked around the table at the narrowed eyes and looks of disbelief. No one believed that Sheldon Cooper knew anyone with the skills necessary who worked for money._

_"How much money are we talking about, Doc?" asked John. He knew how things worked in the underground economy. He just wasn't sure if the Doc did._

_"Not more than $10,000, maybe less." He wanted Howard and he knew Howard's weakness: Bernadette. She wanted to get married in style and she and Howard were scrimping and saving to make it happen._

_He could kill two birds with one proverbial stone. Howard would improve throughput and Sheldon would enable his friends to marry and have as much happy time together as possible before JD came upon them._

_Sarah looked at John who nodded. "Doc, make your contact but make sure it's a secure one. Cameron, go with him and work your magic on the phone."_

Sarah and John had a 'moment'. "She doesn't love him, John. She's just…she feels an affinity for him that she doesn't for any other human being. He's the closest thing to her that she has in her life. He's like…a brother to her."

Penny hadn't meant to overhear the conversation between mother and son but what Sarah said echoed in her mind since it was exactly the same thing Sheldon had tried to explain to her in the bathroom of the motel. _'Penny…she's like a sister to me…'_

"Your mom's right, John, er….General. Sheldon has a thing for computers and this one is like the greatest one he's ever been around. They can talk to one another without the filters we have to employ because they're emotionally immature. I'd bet you a dollar that if Cameron said she loves you that it's true. Just don't expect a lot of hearts and flowers. Be glad for what you _know_ they feel but can't express."

She turned around and went back to the kitchen to help Meemaw clean up and to have a heart-to-heart talk with the only other woman Sheldon loved.

She felt lighter and more worry-free than she had in a long time – even before Tattoo Guy had roofied her.

* * *

A/N: Short but I'm pressed for time. Life has suddenly gotten really complicated and I'm trying to filter out my stuff from my fiction so excuse any miscues and fubars. I fubb up occasionally but life is a snafu of late.

Reparata


	18. Skipping Down the Bunny Trail

Short but a pivotal chapter.

* * *

Chapter 18

"Howard Wolowitz, have you lost your mind? I'm not getting in a car and driving 18 hours just because you say 'It's for Sheldon'," said the small blonde to Howard. He hadn't gotten to the money yet, saving it as a closing argument.

"Bernie, with the money Sheldon's offering, we can have the wedding you want and the honeymoon we both want. Please, Bernadette, this will cut years off our timeline and it's only for two days – and Penny's there so you don't have to worry about – "

"How much money are we talking about here, Howie?"

"$7,000.00 dollars in US currency. For just TWO DAYS!"

The blonde's eyes glazed over and then she jerked her head towards Howard's mother's bedroom. "What about _her? _What do we tell her? And can you really be away two days without a sitter for her?"

* * *

Tenant Farmhouse  
20 hours later

Howard dragged Sheldon out onto the covered porch and whispered urgently, "Sheldon, who the hell _are_ these people?"

After driving straight thru, Bernadette had followed Penny to their room and had crashed on the bed. Ten hours behind the wheel had drained her of energy. Not even the excitement of seeing her friends again had given her a second wind.

"Howard, you're tired and perhaps now – "

"No, Sheldon. Right now. Tell me, who are these people and why – why do they seem so…_guarded?"_

Sheldon sighed as if put upon but he knew that Howard's curiosity and demanding sense of purpose would demand an answer.

"Come, Howard, and take a walk with me. There are some things I have to tell you and others I have to show you. And then you need to sleep. The bags under your eyes have bags."

It only took a few minutes before Howard lost his temper.

"I drove 19 hours to get here and now you tell me you have a project for some future war that will determine the survival of all humans – and it might be months – _**Months **_– before I'll be finished here and can have my money and…"

He only stopped talking because he ran out of breath. Sheldon was surprised at how a whisper could carry so much anger.

"Essentially, yes. But I know you think I've finally succumbed to the insanity that my mother's doctors warned her about and I only wish that it were true."

They were back on the porch and Cameron had been eavesdropping from the kitchen, her programming filtering out all the extraneous noises from the house and concentrating on Sheldon's voice.

'_The engineer needs proof just as Penny did.'_

Cameron walked out onto the porch and interrupted the two. Howard managed not to leer at Cameron and Sheldon suppressed a grin.

"Doc, I was bitten by a rattle snake early yesterday morning while examining your rail gun. Very impressive, by the way."

"I was ten. I was trying to invent something totally different but I can only plead the ignorance of youth."

Cameron pulled up her pants leg and Howard saw the deep wound that was starting to 'heal' and the metallic gleam of the structure at its center.

And fainted.

Cameron caught him in her arms before he hit the wooden porch flooring and smirked at Sheldon who held the screen door open for her and her burden.

"You need a much better selection process in choosing friends, Doc." There was the hint of laughter in her voice that he'd never heard before.

She unceremoniously dumped Howard on the couch amid the sudden silence in the room. Penny scrambled over to Howard with a bottle of water and poured some in the palm of her hand and wiped his face with it.

Howard sat up abruptly and Penny almost fell on her ass but Cameron caught her from behind under the arms and stood her upright.

His mouth formed words but nothing came of but some breathy squeaks.

"Howard, really, is this how an engineering graduate from MIT responds to an example of superior engineering? You fainted. You won't do that again, Howard, or the deal's off. Now, go to your room and take care of Bernadette. Tomorrow will be a full day and we have no time for such juvenile behavior."

Howard looked around the room and an observer could see when the truth of what he'd been told finally 'clicked'.

"Y-You're from the future and you want a manufacturing operation established here, in your 'past', to produce and supply your army in my 'future' and – and we're all gonna die in some nuclear war a fucking computer with paranoid programming is going to initiate?"

Cameron looked at Sheldon with a rueful look on her face. "I apologize, Doc. He _is_ the one to do the job. He is precise and accurate without all the 'flowery bullshit' you color your long-winded dissertations with."

"Whoa there, Iron Woman, I can't do it in two days. Hell, I couldn't do it in two weeks or a month. Bernie and I have commitments and – "

"You'll only be gone 2 calendar days, Howard. Think! Between my entry into the vortex and my exit, how many days elapsed?"

"Two days, Sheldon, but – "

Sheldon cut him off. "Cameron, how long was I Up-time?"

"One-hundred-ninety-two days, although I believe it was a longer period of time but have no real way of knowing exactly how long you wandered around the rubble with your head up your ass."

He glared at her and then quietly said, "We're all going to take a little trip. We'll be moving the operation in stages but everything must be relocated within one hour of commencement."

"Howard, we're falling down the rabbit hole you so often claim is my fate…for at least two months and perhaps more. We're going back to 2008. I suggest you all get some rest because tomorrow will be grueling for all of us."

There was a lot of noise immediately after his statement but only Cameron really took issue with his plan.

"Doc, what about me?" She looked at John and a blind man could see the love in her eyes. She'd never been apart from him that long before and she was uncomfortable with the idea.

"You'll spend the next two days with Meemaw as before. I believe, no, I _know_, that SkyNet isn't about to allow the designer of such weapons to do so. You know he'll send back mechs and skin-jobs to find me and kill me. I'm surprised it hasn't happen before. Besides, you'll only be apart from the General, subjectively, for two days."

Next: Meemaw's secret is revealed and Cameron must make a critical life-altering decision.


End file.
